LITTLE CURRENT—Northeast Town Mayor Al MacNevin accused Burpee and Mills Reeve Ken Noland of “backpeddling” at last week’s meeting of the Manitoulin Municipal Association (MMA) when the West End reeve was put on the spot by the mayor on his municipality’s views concerning the Manitoulin Centennial Manor.
At the March 20 meeting of Northeast Town council, and after a review of the Manor board minutes from council representative Dawn Orr, Councillor Bill Koehler brought forward the Manitoulin West Recorder article of March 16 titled ‘Burpee-Mills council requests meeting to discuss long-term viability of Manor’ which saw Reeve Noland cite his concerns with the one-time municipal expenditure to see the Manor’s 50-year-old heating and cooling system replaced.
“What is the next one-time expense going to be?” asked Reeve Noland in the newspaper story. “It seems as if we are almost back to where we were 10-15 years ago when we (municipalities) had to meet with Ontario ministry staff about the huge increases municipalities had to pay (for their shares in the upkeep of the municipally-owned Centennial Manor.)”
The council of Burpee-Mills then requested a meeting with the Manor board, which has been set for May 17.
The discussion led to Mayor MacNevin noting that it was this same council that had said, noting discussions with Councillor Pentti Palonen, Manor board rep, at least one decade ago, that instead of having Manor reserves, that the municipalities budget for the Manor themselves.
“Ten years ago they were setting aside money,” Mayor MacNevin said. “It’s totally embarrassing that the West End municipalities would put it away and now, when presented with a bill, they act surprised? And what’s even more astounding is that Ken (Noland) said they (the Manor) don’t need a reserve and yet they had one for the Manitoulin Planning Board when their only replacement would be a photocopier, yet they fought tooth and nail for us not to have our share (of the Planning Board reserves).” (The Northeast Town has broken away from the Manitoulin Planning Board and has established its own planning authority. The town and the Planning Board disagreed when the Northeast Town demanded its proportional share of the Planning Board’s reserve funds. The issue has been dealt with by all parties.)
“They should bring us all there,” the mayor said of the May 17 meeting, “not just Burpee-Mills, that way they’d have support.”
Councillor Orr reminded council that the Manor, thanks to the hard work of Wendy Gauthier and other volunteers, does not solely rely on municipal handouts, and that a great deal of fundraising goes into keeping the Manor up-to-date.
“I think you should have support at that meeting other than people who don’t even want to see it viable,” the mayor said to Councillor Orr.
Mayor MacNevin told The Expositor that he brought his concerns up with Reeve Noland at last week’s MMA meeting. “He appeared to be backtracking,” he said, “saying that they just wanted a heads up for the next issue.”
The mayor said that “replacing a 50-year-old furnace does not account for the long-term viability of the Manor.”
“They’ve chosen to operate this way,” he added, referencing the lack of Manor reserves. “NEMI’s standpoint has always been to raise the requisition each year slightly to grow reserves. The policy now is to just bill the municipalities during emergencies.”
“Ken (Noland) and Lee Hayden (reeve, Gordon/Barrie Island) did say they want to know what could be coming down the pipe, but really they seemed to be questioning the Manor’s long-term viability,” Mayor MacNevin observed.
