Pontiac council report - building permit fee now $500 or less
Mo Laidlaw
Only 25 people attended the May 9, 2006 council meeting. Marie-Cine Renaud, who is planning to build a house in the Lac Beauclair area, had many questions about how the scale of fees for permits passed in March had been determined. Mayor Eddie McCann explained that at budget time in December, council was looking for more money, and it made sense to increase fees. “We have to cover our costs from taxes or fees.” However when April arrived with requests for building permits, (and negative publicity) the new fees of 75¢ per square foot no longer seemed reasonable. A fee based on the area of the building is easier for municipal employees to apply than one based on the cost of building.
A majority of council passed the bylaw modifying the fee for a building permit to 25¢ per square foot, with a maximum fee of $500. This applies to a residence or commercial, industrial or community building. Fees of $150 for a waste water treatment system and $150 for well drilling also apply, with $100 refunded when the certificate of compliance or drilling report are received by the municipality. According to Sylvain Bertrand, the director-general, about 50 to 60 houses are built each year in Pontiac. Not all of these are new projects, some may replace old buildings.
Paving in 2006
Michel Séguin asked for details on the paving to be done on Pères-Dominicains. Sylvie Carpentier wanted to know why Marquis was not on the list for paving this year. “It was on the list of the previous council. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to do all roads in the area at once?” Mr McCann replied that this council is using different criteria, including the number of vacant lots. Ms Carpentier then asked, “Are you going to fix the ditches with stagnant water?” McCann replied that ditches will be fixed in order of the size of the problem.
Roads to be paved this year, to be paid 100% by the municipality are: 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.
The total estimated cost of paving is $3.6 million. Two borrowing bylaws, and calls for quotations from engineers for the paving work, were approved. A budget of $31,000 was approved to correct drainage problems on Cedarvale, according to the public works director’s estimate.
Lac Beauclair area
Jacques Lizotte from the Lac Beauclair area near highway 366 in NE Onslow, had many questions and comments: The new municipal webpage (www.munpontiac.com) is not being updated, the latest minutes are for the March meeting. Could taxes be paid in 6 instalments? A culvert needs to be fixed on ch La Pêche, and branches should be cut. The civic numbers on about 4 km of highway 366 (in Pontiac) between Lac des Loups and Masham, are not in sequence with those in La Pêche on either side. He would prefer council meetings to start at 7:30 pm. “Do you not find 8 pm a bit late for council meetings?” Finally, is there green space reserved for a park in the 366 area? Mr McCann said that he had talked to the MRC police chief about curing the problem of non-sequential civic numbers. The police chief suggested a larger “Pontiac” sign, so that ambulance and emergency crews are aware of where they are. Mr Lizotte would prefer to see the civic numbers changed.
Other business
Gilles Lavigne (Pelouses GL)’s offer to maintain green spaces for one year for $15,643 including taxes, was accepted. Gestion Gek’s offer was accepted to audit municipal accounts for $13,500. These were the lowest conforming bids.
Forty-nine permits for work estimated at $1.3 million were issued in April, including building permits for five new houses. There were 19 calls to animal control, and 8 calls to the fire department in April.
Four files will be transferred to the lawyer for action. These are cases where owners are still not complying with the bylaws on cleaning up properties after several notices from the municipality. Mr McCann emphasized that the municipality is serious about enforcing the Nuisance bylaw.
Mr McCann gave notice of a motion to modify zone 41, the industrial park, to make it possible to have an automobile recycling centre in Pontiac, and withdraw permits to do this in other sectors.
Council were split on a motion to give $100 to the Pontiac School of Arts, which was therefore not approved.
Bills for $72,340 and fixed expenses of $386,911 for April, were approved.