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Council Minutes Apr 12/06
April 12, 2006
INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF HILTON BEACH
Council Meeting
April 12th, 2006
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were Reeve Hore and Councillors Crack, Stevens and Sullivan. Councillor Hope had advised that he would be late.
06-35 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to approve the minutes of the March 8th, 2006 meeting as presented.
Carried
06-36 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to authorize payment of Voucher #06-03 in the amount of $165,381.56.
Carried
The Problem Detail Sheet Summary was reviewed. There was discussion on couple of items.
The Clerks Report was reviewed. Work on the Waterfront Centre is progressing and the facility will be ready for the boating season. The summer jobs were advertised and interviews for most positions conducted. Year-end and audit preparation work continues.
The annual reports for the water treatment and the sewage treatment plants were received. The water report concludes that the Hilton Beach WTP delivers water that, in all its treated and distribution nsamples, indicate the water to be free of bacteriological contamination; there was one report of high turbidity in 2005. This high turbidity was caused by the Fire Department.
An announcement was received from Mike Brown, M.P.P. that small libraries will receive a grant of $10,500 to aid in the development of family literacy and to promote reading by building their collections, programs and services. The Hilton Union Library was one of the libraries receiving this grant. It will be of great assistance in both programming and in enhancing the collection
Notification was received from the Ministry of Transportation that the Village will receive funding under the Move Ontario program announced in the recent Provincial budget. The funding was allocated on the base of population and the Village share is $18,486. The Notice of Payment stated that under Move Ontario, the government is making an immediate, one-time investment of $400 million to help municipalities primarily outside of the GTA - with emphasis on rural and northern communities invest in municipal roads and ridges. Municipalities will determine their own road and bridges priorities.
Correspondence with Kresin Engineering regarding the UV installation was noted. The work will not be tendered until a decision is received from the MOE of the need for this additional disinfection. The recent Groundwater Study involved additional research and lead that hydrologist to conclude that the results greatly diminished the argument that the Hilton Beach wells are GUDI (groundwater under the direct influence of surface water).
Correspondence with Harden Environmental for the source protection pre-screening survey. This survey will determine if further work is required to protect he source of the Village water supply. The survey is fully funded by the province.
Notice was received from the Township of Jocelyn of their intention to withdraw from participation in the St. Joseph Island Planning Board.
The statement of revenue and expenses for the Building and By-law Shared Services was received from the Township of Hilton. The building activity in all three participating municipalities was up from 2004. The surplus of approximately $3,000 will be placed in the Building Working Capital Reserve.
Councillor Hope arrived at this time.
The breakdown of the recycling costs for 2006 was received from the Township of Tarbutt. The cost to the Village is $958.64. At the end of the year, the Stewardship Funds will be distributed among the participating municipalities. In 2005 this was $318.52 for the Village. The usage has been increasing and this benefits all area municipalities by extending the lives of the landfills.
Information on the new Income Threshold Component of the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund was received. The Village did not benefit from this.
Correspondence was received from the County of Grey and the City of Owen Sound petitioning the Province to address the Provincial Municipal fiscal gap.
06-37 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to support the resolutions of the County of Grey and the City of Owen Sound urging the Province of Ontario to develop a plan to address the Provincial Municipal fiscal gap with additional contributions to the municipalities beginning in 2006.
Carried
The St. Joseph Island Horticultural Society wrote regarding their Island-wide project to plant trees for shade or ornamental purposes in each of the municipalities. The Village will have to consider the best location for this addition to our community. The Memory Lane project is quite different and is actually very full. Consideration will be given to the options and the Society will be contacted.
A request was received to once again review the decision not to refund the interest on taxes that accumulated during the time the assessment was under appeal. The procedure established by the Province was followed. It was noted that if the interest did not accumulate there would be no incentive to pay taxes and indeed ratepayers could file an appeal at no cost and have many additional months without interest accumulating. The other side of the argument could be made by those who did pay and subsequently received a reduction and that is that the municipality should not only credit the taxes but an allowance for interest of the taxes that had been paid.
A request was received from the St. Joseph Island Canadian Cancer Society to have a bookcase and books in the Marina. People donate books and the Society sells them at various locations. The Marina Manager had already been approached and indicated that it was a good idea. Council concurred.
Information was received from Census Canada on the upcoming Census, stressing the importance of participation. Federal Provincial and Provincial Municipal payments are based on the census figures. A very recent example is the Move Ontario program for which the funding was just received. This was based on the most recent population figure but it has always been considered to be too low. This would be because some people did not participate in the census. The data provided to Statistics Canada is held extremely confidential with only employees of Statistics Canada privy to the raw data. The amalgamated data is what is of interest to any individual or any organization that uses the information.
06-38 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to support the 2006 census and to encourage all residents to complete their census form online or by mail by Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 so that accurate data will be available to support programs and social services that benefit us all.
Carried
A Provincial budget update was received from the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.
A letter was received from the City of Sault St. Marie requesting support for the Northern Physician Retention Initiative. After discussion, it was decided not to support the resolution at this time, as there may be more effective uses of the money such as additional support for the new School of Medicine.
The Town of Greater Napanee requested support for their position that the Province should not be able to approve an application for an expansion of a landfill against the wishes of the Municipal council. In this case, the facility already exists and the owner operator has applied for an expansion. Council did not believe that they had enough information to provide the support requested.
A resolution from the City of Sault Ste Marie protesting the proposed downsizing of The Sault Star was reviewed. Council did not believe that they want to intervene in a business decision of a private company.
A copy of the Ombudsmans Report on MPAC and reaction to it by the Province and MPAC were received. The Ombudsman was very critical in his comments on the way in which MPAC operated and made twenty-two recommendations for improvement, two directed to the Province and twenty to MPAC. MPAC is to report back in six months, detailing progress made.
Notice of the annual meeting for the Algoma District Services Administration Board to be held on April 27th was received.
An annual summary was received from the Ontario Clean Water Agency. One priority for 2006 is that OCWA is currently preparing for the implementation of the Drinking Water Quality Management Standard for their municipal clients to allow a smooth transition from OCWAs current system.
The marina rates for 2006 were reviewed. They had not increased since 2003 and have fallen behind. In particular, the rates for power were considered to be too low. After considerable deliberation the following resolution finalized.
06-40 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to set the marina rates for 2006 as follows:
Dockage: Seasonal - $27.50/ft, Monthly - $16.50/ft., Weekly - $5.50/ft, Daily - $1.35/ft.
Winter storage: $5.50/ft
Power 30 amp: Monthly - $40.00, Weekly - $16.50, Daily - $5.50
Power 50 amp: double 30 amp rate
Ramp: Seasonal - $40.00, Weekly - $16.50, Daily - $5.50
Carried
Council had to go into closed meeting to consider the recommendations for summer staff.
06-41 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to go into closed meeting.
Carried
06-42 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to return to open meeting.
Carried
Councillor Hope had declared a conflict of interest and left the Council Chambers during the deliberation as his daughter had applied for a position.
06-43 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by J. Sullivan
Resolved to adopt the report for summer staff as presented.
Carried
06-44 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to give first, second and third readings to By-law #874 being a by-law to confirm the proceedings of the Council meeting held April 12th, 2006 and confirm the taking of any action authorized therein and thereby.
Carried
06-45 Moved by J. Sullivan Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to adjourn to meet again on May 10th, 2006 or at the call of the Reeve.
Carried
APPRECIATION CORNER
To the Hilton Union Fire Department and the Jocelyn Fire Department for their prompt response to and work at the recent structure fire.
To the Dry Dock Restaurant for providing coffee to the firefighters.
To the many young people who applied for positions with the Village. There certainly is a tremendous group of youth willing to work in and for their community.
CIVIC ADDRESS SIGNAGE
The Fire Department is reminding all residents that civic address numbers MUST be up and readily visible from the street. These numbers help the emergency fire and ambulance vehicles find your residence quickly. It also makes it easier for those making deliveries, etc. Reflective numbers can be purchased at sign shops such as Superior 7 or Cliffe Printing. Others can be purchased at most hardware or department stores.
SMOKE ALARMS ARE IN
Smoke detectors are available for purchase at the Village Office for $6, battery included. It is now the law that there is an alarm of every level of a home. Also, remember to change the batteries on any existing smoke alarms.
VILLAGE GARAGE SALE
The Village garage sale will be held on July 1st. If you are planning a garage sale for that day, please call the Village Office and you will be put on the map.
LIBRARY ANNOUNCEMENT
The Library is pleased to receive the $10,500 funding from the Ministry of Culture. We will be enhancing our resources to fulfill this mandate with the purchase of books in a variety of genre, programs to encourage reading, etc. The Library Board will consider requests and suggestions. Please submit these to our Librarian, Diane Gerhart. Hours are Mon. 3 - 5 and 7 -9; Wed. 1 5; Sat 1 5.
