Pontiac council report - make playgrounds safe
Mo Laidlaw
Over 40 residents were at the May 8, 2007 council meeting.
Parks
Stéphane Carle, Danny Wester and a group of concerned fathers from the Lavigne area of Breckenridge described the state of the park and playground equipment - no guards on the slide, no sand to provide a soft surface under the seesaw, and water pooling in places. Council earmarked $2730 for Lavigne Park, with municipal employees to carry out the work from the parks budget. Davis Park will receive $340.
Lorraine Renaud and Joan Letourneau asked for a toilet to be provided closer to the area used for pétanque at the Luskville ballpark. Many of the 60 players are seniors and the path across the field is very rough. Mayor Eddie McCann said he would sort this out.
Roads and two-weekly garbage pickup
As usual for the last few meetings there were questions on the state of roads, when paving is going to be done (“August”), and complaints about garbage pickup now being alternate weeks. Mike Labonté lives on Dubois at the corner of Wilmer, and complained about the dust coming from Wilmer. He has been putting down calcium and watering it himself for the last two years. McCann suggested that residents of Wilmer (a private road) form an association so that they can qualify for support from the municipality.
Sylvie Carpentier said that her bag of garbage is often shredded before it is picked up late in the day, and the two-weekly pickup has led to increased debris and garbage on Terry-Fox. McCann said that bags of garbage should be put out in a galvanized can with a lockable lid to avoid animal damage. McCann described the pilot project on Lelièvre; each household uses a separate 360L wheelie bin to store bagged garbage, in addition to that for recycling. There was a discussion about whether these are bear-proof. Perhaps the lid could be secured with a bungie cord.
Council voted to charge residents $10 for household appliances during the heavy item pickup, to pay for recovery of refrigerant.
Drainage
Council agreed to ask Fondex Shermont to estimate for the following work on Cedarvale: preparing a drainage plan, recommendations on where to direct the water in the ditches, and preparing working drawings for contractors. The problem is how to direct water from the ditches to the Ottawa River without going over private land - Cedarvale is parallel to the river.
Council voted 4:3 in favour of the municipality paying for culverts to allow access to properties where a ditch is dug along a road that had no ditch before.
Judge Martin Bédard has ruled that the municipality must remove a culvert installed across chemin de la Rivière at Bingley Crescent. Removal of this culvert is now authorized.
New housing development
Council requests the Commission de Toponymie du Québec to make the following road names official for the Domaine Bellevue at 1521 highway 148: Fortin, Seliner, Plante and Asaret. (Council voted to support this project at a special meeting on April 4, as it conforms with zoning and subdivision bylaws, studies were made as recommended by the municipality’s consultants, modifications have been made to the plans where necessary, and the town planning committee’s requirements have been met. 95 lots have been created, including a park and nature trails.)
Other matters
Bills for $66,342 and fixed expenses of $292,789 for April were approved.
Breckenridge Contracting (Rick Knox) won the contract for grass-cutting on municipal property for the next four years for $59,763.
Council voted to buy a trailer to carry Éric Provost’s calcium spreader, for $5,700.
Offers for the following equipment will be sought: Dodge 4 x 4 1996, Ford 1 ton 1994, Chevrolet half ton 1996, used Procastor sander, Western snow bucket, snow blower. If offers are too low, council may decide not to sell.
MTQ will be asked for increased grants to maintain roads that were formerly maintained by the province, due to increased costs since 2000.
Councillor Middlemiss proposed that all municipal committees should keep a bilingual record of meetings as minutes. This was rejected by 4:4 votes, with the mayor voting against.