Council Minutes Mar 8/06

March 8, 2006

INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF HILTON BEACH
Council Meeting
March 8, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were Reeve Hore and Councillors Hope, Stevens and Sullivan. Councillor Crack was absent with notice.

Three representatives of Great Lakes Power were in attendance to provide an annual update to Council. Reeve Hore thanked GLP for providing the equipment and crew to install the new rope and flag on the flag pole. GLP has instituted these annual visits to municipalities to keep the lines of communication open. A copy of the new logo was provided. There will not be any capital work in the Village in 2006. Brush control will continue on the whole Island and there will be some planned power outages at various times. GLP has augmented their methods of providing notification of planned power outages and this has worked well.

Joe Books was in attendance as the Emergency Management Coordinator. He provided a draft of the St. Joseph Island Emergency Plan for Council to review. It is essentially the same as the existing plan however contact information has to be double-checked. Chief Books indicated that there will be an emphasis on public information. The fire extinguisher inspection will be held again this summer in the Village so individuals can bring their extinguishers to be checked.

06-24 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to approve the minutes of the February 8th, 2006 meeting as presented.
Carried

06-25 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to authorize payment of Voucher #06-02 in the amount of $65,724.51.
Carried


The Problem Detail Sheet Summary was reviewed. No items were removed or added.

The Clerks Report was reviewed. It is a busy time of year with year-end, tax bills, etc. A summary of the marina project to date shows that it is under budget. The renovations to The Waterfront Centre will be completed in time for the boating season.

The final report for the Groundwater Management Study for St. Joseph Island had just been received. Councillor Hope sits on this committee and will provide a summary to Council at the next meeting. It does indicate that the argument that the Hilton Beach wells should be considered to be GUDI (groundwater under the direct influence of surface water) is greatly diminished with the findings of the study. This information will be provided to Kresin Engineering and the Ministry of the Environment in the hope that the ultra-violet system will not have to be installed thus reducing the expenditures for this project.

The annual Drinking Water Systems Regulation report was received from the Ministry of the Environment. There were no exceedances in the results of the sixty-nine inorganic and organic parameters that were tested.

Correspondence was received from Kresin Engineering regarding the remaining work at the well pump house, which includes the installation of the ultra-violet system. Now that the Groundwater Study has been completed, these results will be forwarded for review to determine if the work is indeed necessary.

Notification was received from the Minister of Municipal Affairs that the government intends to extend the term of office for municipal councillors and school trustees to four years effective with the November 2006 election.

Information was received from the Algoma Coalition that has been formed to fight the anticipated rate increases by Great Lakes Power. It appears that there could be a significant rate hike if GLPs application is approved. The Coalition would apply for intervener status on behalf of the members.

06-26 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to support in principle the Algoma Coalition formed to intervene in the anticipated increases to Great Lakes Power rates.
Carried

A suggestion was made by the Township of St. Joseph that the Island municipalities jointly purchase lapel pins for promotional uses. These could be used in a variety of circumstances. Council thought that pins in the shape of the Island would be quite effective.

06-27 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to participate in the Island Lapel Pin project with the other island municipalities using the outline of the Island.
Carried

Laurel Hendrick applied for the vacancy on the Library Board.

06-28 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to appoint Laurel Hendrick to the Hilton Union Library Board.
Carried

Acknowledgement of the input from the Village on Draft #4 of the proposed Official Plan was received from the Planning Board. The comments have been provided to the consultant.

Funding had been approved for the Source Protection Pre-screening Project in the amount of $10,000. The MOE will cover 100% of this project.

06-29 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to give first, second and third readings to By-law #872 being a by-law to sign an agreement with the Ministry of the Environment for a Municipal Source Protection Pre-screening Project.
Carried

06-30 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to apply for five positions under the HRSDC Summer Career Placement Program.
Carried

Council had to go into closed meeting to discuss a land sale issue.

6.31Moved by R. Hope Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to go into closed meeting.
Carried

06-32 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to return to open meeting.
Carried


06-33 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to five first, second and third readings to By-law #873 being a by-law to confirm the proceedings of the Council meeting held March 8th, 2006 and confirm the taking of any action authorized therein and thereby.
Carried

06-34 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to adjourn to meet again on April 12th, 2006 or at the call of the Reeve.
Carried



RECREATION COMMITTEE

The Recreation Committee is planning activities for children, youth and families. Please watch for the posters for the activities and schedule.


APPRECIATION CORNER

To the person who cleaned out the Willis driveway from Lloyd and Helen Willis.

To the staff at the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines who successfully undertook to have the OSTAR claim, and then the payment, processed . This is in spite of the fact that it is not a MNDM program. It resulted in receipt of a long awaited payment from this program.

To Charlie Nelson who called Great Lakes Power and for the GLP crew for re-rigging the flag pole and installing the flag. Because of the snow build-up it was impossible to lower the pole to do it.


SMOKE ALARMS

Effective March 1st it is the law to have an operating smoke detector on each level of a home. The Fire Department is renewing the supply of smoke alarms in the Municipal Office. As well be sure to do the semi-annual check of the batteries to ensure that the alarms are indeed functional/