Pontiac council report - roads more interesting to residents than mayor’s pay
Mo Laidlaw
The turnout of nearly fifty people for the council meeting on April 11, 2006 was slightly smaller than for last month’s meeting, despite wide distribution of an anonymous flyer inciting taxpayers to “speak up or pay up”, against council pay increases. Rick Knox asked about the flyer after seven questions on roads and other matters. Mayor Eddie McCann, sounding relieved said, “Finally someone has brought this up.” He explained that the MRC representative (the mayor) receives about $13,000, not $22,000 and there is no tax free allowance. McCann said, “these figures are wrong, they are from The Equity.” He went on to say, “This (bylaw) should not be a surprise, it was discussed at the budget meeting in December and there were public meetings in Breckenridge and Quyon. I’m very happy to discuss this. I started from the idea that $25 a day was appropriate for councillors, given the size of the municipality, then I compared it to other municipalities. We are 4th or 5th out of seven municipalities in the MRC des Collines.” He then admitted, “The mayor’s salary is the problem at $75 per day. There is no allowance for gas or meals; with a municipality 40 km wide and a gas allowance of 50¢ a km, costs would add up. The monthly pay is the only money the mayor or councillors get. I’ll be working 363 days a year; every day except Christmas and New Year’s. We are responsible for a budget of $5 million.”
McCann opened the discussion to the floor, and in answer to a question from Russell Allen replied that “Councillors are not paid extra for sitting on committees such as the CCU. This is part of their duty as councillors.” Allen gave his opinion that being a councillor was a half-time job, but then went on to say that he knew of two councillors who were working 40-50 hours a week, and they were worth $9,000 a year. Another resident said “It’s a deal, I’m in favour.” Rhoda Scott said she had checked other municipalities and “we are getting a bargain.”
Other residents were not so easily swayed, and wanted any increase to be delayed until the next council is elected in November 2009. Several felt there was a link to increased evaluations and was fuelling inflation. Indexing pay to the cost of living also excited comment from several people who said “I don’t get automatic cost-of-living increases,” and, “You have a plan for remuneration but not for roads.” McCann reiterated that “My wage would be $40,000, (including the MRC pay) and increases would be limited to 75% of the increase in the cost of living. I ran (in the election) on the issue of improving roads and I’m committed to this.” The bylaw setting the new pay scales at $27,000 per year for the mayor and $9,000 for the councillors passed by 6 votes to 2, councillors Middlemiss and Dagenais voting against.
Paving in 2006
Alain Desormeaux, Russell Allen, Raymond Renaud, and Carl Hager had earlier asked questions about paving and improving various roads. A borrowing bylaw was passed to spread the $3.24 million cost of road improvements (according to Fondex’s estimates) over 20 years. The following is the list of roads to be paved this year:
To be paid 100% by the municipality: Pères-Dominicains 1.7 km, Maple 1.4 km, Crégheur 0.8 km, Steele 1.5 to 2 km, Damas-Perrier 1.6 km, Alary 0.5 km, Tremblay 0.8 km, Montagne 1 km, Ferry 0.4 km, Clarendon 2.4 km, 2nd concession 0.5 km, Canal 0.7 km, Cochrane 0.7 km, and River (Beechgrove) 0.7 km. Cost-shared 50:50 with residents: Lavigne 0.7 km and Davis/Soulière 2 km. Cost-shared 50:50 with Gatineau: Terry-Fox, 0.5 km. Cedarvale will not be paved this year, but major improvement work will be undertaken.
Pontiac website
The municipal web site is now up and running at www.munpontiac.com in English and French. It is designed to work well on dial-up connections, as broadband internet is not available to many in the municipality. So far there is a welcome section, a photo of the Council, minutes of regular and special meetings, and bulletins from the planning and fire departments. Coming soon are sections on bylaws, recreation and culture, links, and details of services including waste and recycling, police, roads, taxes, planning and Quyon’s water and sewage.
Other business
The Quyon library will be named “Robert Joyce municipal library,” and the 1904 Quyon School building at 885 Clarendon will be named “Bert Kennedy seniors’ hall,” to honour two volunteers who spent many hours running the library and taking care of the seniors’ centre, respectively.
Conservation Nature Québec and Ducks Unlimited Canada are buying 22 hectares of land in the agricultural zone, part of lot 7, range 2 Onslow (just north of Indian Point). The CPTAQ commissioners said that the land is not farm-able because it is wet, low-lying land close to the Ottawa River. They approved the sale, which required CPTAQ approval as DUC is not “resident” in Québec. CPTAQ decisions are online at: www.jugements.qc.ca
Council rejected a proposal by 5 votes to 2 to spend $5,000 on a simultaneous translation device for the council chamber. One councillor mentioned that if there is something he doesn’t understand, his neighbour at the table explains it to him.
Council voted to forbid the use of septic systems that treat effluent with UV light before discharging it in a ditch, lake, marsh or watercourse. This system does away with the traditional tile bed, and has been approved provincially, but many municipalities prefer caution when there is a risk for the environment and public health.
Crystal Lamadeleine has been hired as a volunteer firefighter.
Tenders to buy the two garbage trucks were accepted. The 1999 Ford F550 was sold to André Hayes for $13,001; the 1995 Ford was sold to SSVG for $16,000.
The public works director is authorized to spend not more than $15,000 on culverts, and $60,000 on gravel.
An order for 2645 recycling bins will be made to IPL Inc, for $61.96 each including tax. These are the 360L wheelie bins for each household.
Bills for $73,844 and fixed expenses of $354,549 to March 31st, were approved.