MINDEMOYA—The swearing in and meeting of the new council for the municipality of Central Manitoulin took place December 2 with newcomers including Mayor Richard Stephens and Councillors Alex Baran and Linda Farquhar in attendance.
Mayor Stephens began the meeting by acknowledging the service of the members of the previous council with special mention of former mayor Gerry Strong and councillors Gloria Haner and Adam McDonald and thanking them for their hard work. He then congratulated the new council members and pointed out that Councillor Derek Stephens had been elected for a fourth term. “We will look to you for leadership,” the mayor told Councillor Stephens as he also told talked of the experience and know-how of Councillors Pat MacDonald and Ted Taylor who joined the panel three years ago. The mayor also talked of the financial side of life that Councillor Baran would bring to the table, the community work of Councillor Dale Scott and the attributes and political name of Linda Farquhar.
In a special mention of township clerk Ruth Frawley the mayor noted that she is “the glue that holds the whole package together.”
The council agenda then saw the appointments to committees of council with six working groups being formed. The roads committee will be chaired by Dale Scott with members Ted Taylor, Linda Farquhar and Derek Stephens while Ted Taylor will head the property committee with members Pat MacDonald, Dale Scott and Alex Baran. The waste, water and education committee will see Derek Stephens at the helm with Alex Baran, Pat MacDonald and Ted Taylor sitting as members and the safety, security and health board will be chaired by Linda Farquhar with Derek Stephens, Alex Baran and Ted Taylor serving as members. Alex Baran will serve as chairperson for the finance and economic development committee along with Linda Farquhar, Dale Scott and Pat MacDonald. Councillor MacDonald will be in charge of the office and administration committee with members Dale Scott, Linda Farquhar and Derek Stephens. As usual, the mayor will sit on all committees and each committee will have a staff member.
Appointments to other boards and committees were also discussed at the meeting with Pat MacDonald sitting as chair of the beautification committee and Linda Farquhar serving as alternate. Councillor MacDonald also heads the Central Manitoulin Cemetery Board along with Alex Baran while Ted Taylor continues to head the Central Manitoulin Historical Society with the mayor being the alternate. The Central Manitoulin Public Library board will be chaired by Derek Stephens with the alternate being Linda Farquhar and Alex Baran will head the Discovery Centre board with Pat MacDonald as the alternate. Eric Russell has been appointed to sit on the Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board while Ted Taylor, Steve Orford, Jim Anstice and Al Tribinevicius serve as fence viewers and Dale Scott as head of the livestock evaluator with Jim Gilpin sitting as the alternate member. Pat MacDonald will also head the Manitoulin Centennial Manor board with Linda Farquhar as alternate while Mayor Stephens will be the appointee to the Manitoulin Planning Board, which does not allow alternates, and the Manitoulin Municipal Association. Dale Scott will lead the Mindemoya Arena Advisory Committee with alternate Ted Taylor and the Community Policing Advisory Committee with Derek Stephens as alternate and he will be the alternate for the weed inspector committee which is headed by Jim Gilpin. Councillor Farquhar has been appointed to head the Provincial Offences Act Committee and Alex Baran will serve as the appointee to the Providence Bay Community Centre board. Derek Stephens will be the alternate for both of these committees.
Deputy mayor appointments were also announced at the meeting with Pat MacDonald serving for the first 16 months, Linda Farquhar for the next 16 months and Dale Scott finishing up the term. As Mayor Stephens noted, these appointments reflected the fact that there was one person appointed from each of the regular townships.
Mayor Stephens also announced an emergency management training seminar to be held in the council chambers on December 9 from 9 am until noon. Mayor Stephens will attend the session and issued an open invitation for councillors to attend.
An in camera session was held as part of this meeting with Mayor Stephens announcing afterwards that council had reached consensus to hire Linda Gilbert as the new Economic Development Officer (EDO) at the salary and terms discussed.
The council meeting ended with Ms. Frawley noting that all the actions taken at the meeting are confirmed to be bylaws.
by Betty Bardswich
