Senior of the year
Councillor Marcel Gauthier nominated Bill Strain as the Northeast Town’s 2016 Senior of the Year. Councillor Paul Skippen seconded the motion which was carried by council.
Councillor Gauthier noted that the community has had a Senior of the Year for the past 10 years and that they have nominated an even number of both males and females and individuals from the various wards.
Northeast Town to takeover zoning
The Northeast Town carried a motion at last week’s meeting to take over zoning responsibilities for their own municipality (opposed to the Manitoulin Planning Board (MPB), which was handling the town’s zoning requests).
Town CAO Dave Williamson said as per council’s request, town staff looked into processing zoning requests for the municipality.
“From a staffing perspective we feel this is something we could easily take on if that was the will of council,” said Mr. Williamson.
He also noted that last year the MPB processed only one zoning request for the Northeast Town.
As to cost inquiries, Mr. Williamson responded that it would be nominal and that the $650 rate that the MPB currently charges would sufficiently cover costs if the municipality adopted the same rate.
Council carried a motion to rescind the bylaw which gave zoning authority for the municipality to the MPB and to establish a Northeast Town zoning process fee of $650. Staff was directed to forward copies of the motion to the MPB and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“I think this will be a lot faster and better for our constituents and based in our own community,” commented Councillor Paul Skippen.
Roadside grass cutting
Council reviewed tenders for roadside grass cutting for the municipality. Council carried a motion to accept the bid from Ken Ferguson for $6,780 including taxes for the first cut and $6,015 for the second cut. Staff had noted that it was $4,000 less then the other bid which was $10,735 per cut.
Closed monitoring landfill report
Mr. Williamson reviewed the 2015 Annual Monitoring Report from GM Blueplan for the closed Little Current landfill.
Mr. Williamson assured council that in general there were no issues. One request was for a sign to be placed identifying the area, which he said staff would be handling.
McLean’s Mountain Wind Farm road use
The Northeast Town received correspondence from the McLean’s Mountain Wind Farm that they would be doing road work at the bottom of Harbour View Road this summer, replacing the cable that runs down the road and along the bottom of the channel.
“In June of 2014 we had a short to ground on one phase of our main conductor,” explained the correspondence to the town from Rick Martin, manager of McLean’s Mountain Wind Farm. “It was temporarily repaired and now it has been decided that in the best interest of the project, it needs to be replaced. We realize that this means working on the road allowance on Harbour View and that we would thus be under the terms and conditions of the road users agreement. If there are any other requirements please let me know.”
Council opposed to water diversion plan
After reviewing a letter from MPP Mike Mantha’s office, council carried a motion to oppose the City of Waukesha, Wisconsin’s plan to divert 38.2 million litres of water from Lake Michigan and requested that staff forward a copy of the motion to the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, Premier Kathleen Wynne, the International Joint Commission, MP Carol Hughes and MPP Mike Mantha.
Financial reports
Town Treasurer Sheryl Wilkin reviewed the accounts receivable for water/sewer and taxes with council at the administration and finance committee meeting.
For water/sewer, Ms. Wilkin said that there was $23,110.17 made in payments last month. She said that there are currently 12 accounts over the $500 limit. Of those accounts, four had been disconnected, three were over the limit due to penalty applied for March, two had made payment arrangements with the town and three individuals had received disconnection notices. She also noted that water meters were read at the end of March and the next billing was due on April 29.
Councillor Gauthier inquired as to when the new limit of $400 would take effect. Mr. Williamson responded that notices informing residents of the change would be sent out with bills this month and that the change would take effect with the next billing cycle, but stressed that the town is “easing” into the change and wants to work with residents.
For accounts receivable for taxes, Ms. Wilkin reported that there were $305,493.71 made in payments last month and that the next installment of taxes is due on April 29.
