Pontiac council report - relief in sight at ballpark
Mo Laidlaw
More than 20 residents were at the June 12, 2007 council meeting.
Parks
Lorraine Renaud and Joan Letourneau made a second appeal for a toilet to be provided closer to the area used for pétanque at the Luskville ballpark. Council voted to rent a toilet for the summer season. Councillor Garry Dagenais suggested that from next year this should be put in the budget.
Play equipment in Quyon parks and ch. Beaudoin park will be inspected for safety compliance and repaired if necessary.
Cleaning up properties
David Birt, representing residents of the Pontiac Bay area, asked what can be done about a property with problems of sewage, garbage and abandoned vehicles, that is decreasing the value of neighbouring properties. “The community offered to help clear up, but this was refused,” he said. Mayor Eddie McCann replied that the nuisance bylaw is “successful, but the court process is extremely slow.” He went on to say that more inspectors are being hired, to avoid the need for complaints and confrontations between neighbours.
Municipality of Pontiac?
Jean-Claude Carisse congratulated Councillor Raymond Gougeon on his letter to Le Droit which reminded readers that the municipality of Pontiac was formed in 1975, and that the villages of Luskville and Quyon are part of it. Gougeon’s letter says that Canada Post’s system does not yet recognise the municipality, although Bell Canada does.
Fire department
The fire department was called out to two brush fires, one bonfire without a permit, one kitchen fire, two alarms and one mountain rescue. Apparently the firefighters are not trained for mountain rescue and should not have responded.
Roads, speed limits
Council agreed by 4:3 to buy a Volvo grader from Strongco for $252,995. The original bid, $7000 higher, was the only conforming bid. Councillor Jim Coyle said that one of the used graders should be sold to help pay for this.
Speed limits will be reduced on the following municipal roads: Marquis, Cedarvale, Davis, Soulière, Lavigne, Omkar, Panorama, Lelièvre, Dubois, Maple, Crégheur, Tremblay (from Lamoureux), and des Pères-Dominicains (from Papineau).
Councillor Jean Amyotte proposed that Maple Lane should be closed to through traffic between Lelièvre and Terry-Fox, to prevent heavy delivery trucks using Maple as a short-cut. A petition signed by “all residents” of Maple and Lelièvre had been received. There was no seconder for this motion. Maple Lane will be one of the first roads to be paved this summer because of its importance as a road link.
Three Luskville beach associations were granted amounts totalling $12,632 for road improvements - Plage Albert Tremblay $3500, Pointe-aux-Roches $5655 and Plage François Tremblay $3477.
Gravel worth $10,000 will be spread on Crégheur between Raymond Bélisle’s and chemin de la Butte.
Fondex Shermont will prepare a drainage plan for Cedarvale and a plan to correct drainage on Rivière for $30,000.
Garbage pickup
Mountainview Turf will be asked to pick up garbage weekly from about ten commercial food establishments from June 25 to October 31. The one-ton truck can be used for this on recycling weeks, for a cost of $400-$450 per week.
Town planning committee (CCU)
Marcelle Chabot’s membership was renewed and Rick Knox will be a new member of the CCU, both for two year terms.
Other matters
Bills for $79,096 and fixed expenses of $207,218 for May were approved. In future, credit card bills for gas and small items will be paid when due (after verifying). Waiting for council’s approval leads to interest charges.
A Ford F150 2x4 truck will be purchased for the road department from Carle Ford for a total of $22,744.
Four of the six information bulletins sent out by the municipality each year will be at fixed dates, so that community organisations will be able to promote their activities.