Pontiac council report - interim director general appointed
Mo Laidlaw
Pontiac

Over 40 people attended the regular council meeting on 8 July 2014 at the Marcel Lavigne Community Centre.

Mayor Roger Larose started the meeting with a recap of the events of last week, including the microburst of July 1 that caused intense localized damage, and the collapse of route 148 near the Luskville ballpark the next day. He underlined the excellent work of the Fire Department and Hydro Québec, and the assistance of MNA André Fortin in dealing with the ministry of Transport to get a bypass in place within two days.

Public input
Carl Hager, Kevin Crombie and Sue Lamont thanked the municipality for their help in cleaning up their properties in addition to clearing the road. “As we know, insurance doesn’t pay for cleanup,” said Mr Hager. Twelve big trees came down on his property.

Equipment for Parc Kerr playground
Alain Brochu and Daniel Daigle presented a petition from residents of Domaine Bellevue asking that “budgeted funds be used to install playground equipment. At least 90 children under 6 years old live in the area, and should not have to suffer because of an administrative error.” Mr Larose said there are more important priorities, such as paving. “As soon as the money comes in to the parks fund from the new development, we can go ahead. It is the same thing in Quyon.” He refused to consider a loan from working capital.

New interim director general
Following a resolution about a “management employee” (the former director general) signing an agreement to cancel his contract, Benedikt Kuhn was nominated as the interim director general and secretary treasurer, and Ginette Chevrier-Bottrill (the finance director) as the interim assistant director general, effective 26 May, at the same salaries as previous DG and ADG.

Fire Department
Councillors Denis Dubé, Nancy Draper-Maxsom and Mr Larose will form a Fire services committee to negotiate with the firefighters association.
A “preventionist”, Mathieu Hull, will be hired for three months to work 30 hours per week on fire prevention and 2.5 hours per week on vehicle maintenance, at $19.26 per hour. The MRC des Collines will be responsible for inspecting high and medium risk buildings according to a new bylaw.

Route 148 reconstruction
Work on the Terry-Fox to Maple section is now scheduled for 2015, as three properties remain to be expropriated, and drainage has to be resolved. Council requests the ministry of Transport to work on the section between Maple and Braun at the same time.

$500,000 will be requested from the PARRM program (Programme pour l’amélioration du réseau routier municipal) for repair and maintenance of ch de la Montagne, which is estimated will cost $1.05 million.
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Various bylaws were adopted to reduce speed limits: in school zones (Onslow school was added), on Westbrook (50 km/h), and on the part of Terry-Fox between Cedarvale and the river (15 km/h).

Parc du Sault-des-Chats de Pontiac
The land use plan and market study were adopted, and a resolution to support this regional park was adopted.
www.saultdeschats.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Plan-daménagement-PSDC_-version1-final-31mars-2014.pdf

Mr Dubé announced that the Seniors round table will be holding a free BBQ for seniors (50+) at the Marcel Lavigne community centre, Luskville, on 12 August. See www.pontiac2020.ca for more details.

An agricultural committee has been set up and councillors Tom Howard, Nancy Draper-Maxsom and Mr Larose will be members.

Money matters
The following were approved since the last regular meeting:
Invoices for June amounting to $25,909, fixed expenses of $382,307, and incurred expenses for July of $7081. 
$10,779 to J.F. Sabourin & Associates to review documents related to the Domaine des Chutes housing project north of the Town Hall. This is an amendment to the original amount of $2,560, granted in February.
$10,300 plus fees to M. Morimano to assess the Lions club building at 2 ch Ferry.
$500 for plants and shrubs around the town hall.

Full minutes of council meetings are posted on the municipal website. www.municipalitepontiac.com/en/council-and-municipal-committees/minutes-of-council-meetings/
(En français, Procès verbaux) www.municipalitepontiac.com/fr/conseil-et-comites-municipaux/proces-verbaux/
Mo’s reports are archived at: www.heritagepontiac.ca/Municipality