Council Minutes Aug 18/05

August 18, 2005

INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF HILTON BEACH
Council Meeting
August 18, 2005

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

05-119 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to approve the minutes of the July 6th, 2005 meeting as presented.
Carried

05-120 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to approve the minutes of the July 25th, 2005 meeting as presented.
Carried

05-121 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to approve payment of Voucher #05-07 in the amount of $189,119.54.
Carried

The Problem Detail Sheet Summary was reviewed. The surface treatment has been completed although the South St. hill is not as good as it should be because of the torrential rain just prior to the work being done and th fact that some roughness was caused by vehicles accelerating on the hill. Use of the cedar from the Forest St. right-of-way was discussed. Options will be pursued for Councils consideration. Work is progressing on a couple of other items.

The Clerks Report was noted. July was a very busy month with budget, taxes, special events and the marina project. Because of the volume of work, some tasks were not completed in a timely manner. Members of Council reported that they had received complaints regarding the inadequate explanation of the tax rate in the Ratepayer Newsletter. A fuller explanation will be provided at the end of these minutes.

The Landfill Report was reviewed. A considerable amount of material was deposited in the month.

Reeve Hore reported on the site meeting with Kresin Engineering. The details of the installation of the UV system are being finalized. A small drainage bed will have to be installed at the site for the small amount of excess water that is used in the operation of the new equipment. This will also solve the current intermittent problem of the drainage in the building.

Correspondence addressed to all of the other three municipalities was received from the Township of St. Joseph inquiring if there was any interest in participating in the establishment of a recycling depot on the Island either within the existing framework by moving the bins from the Highway 17 site or establishing a stand alone program. Council was of the opinion that either of these scenarios would weaken the current system. It was thought that the short distance off of the Island does not create a hardship to people who are taking their material to be recycled.

The problem of the recycling bins being full too often was discussed. The Clerk was instructed to contact the administrator to determine what can be done to alleviate this problem. People have and will stop recycling if they cannot deposit the material once they do get to the depot.

Notification was received from the City of Sault Ste. Marie that the hazardous waste depot will now be open on Thursday as well as Friday and Saturday. All ratepayers are reminded to bring this material to the depot at 115 Industrial Park (close to Soo Mill) Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Examples of materials accepted are: oil and latex paint, oil, acids, antifreeze, aerosols, caustics, flammables, pesticides, batteries of all types, propane cylinders, oil filters, pharmaceuticals, sharps, fire extinguishers.

A copy of a resolution was received from the Township of Prince regarding the funding of use by the unincorporated townships of the hazardous waste recycling facility. Currently there is no mechanism for these townships to participate.

05-122 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by R. Hope
Resolved to support the position of the Township of Prince petitioning the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines to enter into an agreement with the City of Sault Ste. Marie on behalf of the unincorporated townships for the hazardous waste program.
Carried

Notification was received from the OPP that S/Sgt Ron Faulkner will be the new person responsible for the area.

New wording was received for the Township of St. Joseph to request a joint quote for OPP services.

05-123 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to request the Ontario Provincial Police to provide a costing for a joint policing contract for the four municipalities on St. Joseph Island, namely the Townships of St. Joseph, Jocelyn and Hilton and the Village of Hilton Beach.
Carried

The invitation for the transfer of the Anglican Church property to the Village was noted. The ceremony was held on August 14th with representatives of the Anglican Church, the Lions Club and the Village participating and several members of the public in attendance.

A signed copy of the hazardous waste agreement was returned by the City of Sault Ste. Marie. The Waste Diversion Supervisor encourages all Village residents to use the facility and to ensure that any material being transported is securely contained to avoid spillage in transit.

Copies of correspondence from both the Township of Jocelyn and the Township of Michipicoten to the Algoma District Homes for the Aged were received. A meting was being requested to discuss the plans for the facility. As well notice of a meeting was received for a District Municipal Meeting regarding Algoma Manor on September 9th. Councillor Crack will attend on behalf of the Village.

Notice was received from the Site Manager of Fort St. Joseph that the Ghostwalk will no longer be held in an effort to realign resources in focussing towards sustainable quality visitor experiences, attracting more school groups, and presenting our themes relating to Aboriginal people. It was the opinion of members of Council that the Ghostwalk event was one of the best ever offered by the Fort and that it should be continued.

Information was received from the Northeastern Ontario Hospitals Committee on the bursary fund for the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. A representative will attend a future council meeting to make a presentation. The request will be for $1 per resident.

Information was received on the Triathlon event held on August 13th.

The Water Expert Panel Report on Ontarios Water and Wastewater Sector has been released. A copy was provided to members of Council. The Report does recommend a continued role for OCWA and that OCWA be transformed into a corporation under the Ontario Business Corporations Act. Within this model OCWA would continue to be owned by the Province but it would be staffed and governed as a commercial firm.

Correspondence was received from the Planning Board regarding additional meetings for the new zoning by-laws that the consultant suggested would be useful. Council would like clarification on the number of meetings and confirmation on the cost sharing of the expenses.

Council had to go into closed meeting.

05-124 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to go into closed meeting.
Carried

05-125 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to return to open meeting.
Carried

05-126 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to accept with regret the resignation of Randy Gardner as animal control officer.
Carried

05-127 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to give first, second and third readings to By-law #856 being a by-law to confirm the proceedings of the Council meeting held on August 18th, 2005 and confirm the taking of any action therein and thereby.
Carried

05-128 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to adjourn to meet again on September 14th, 2005 or at the call of the Reeve.
Carried







APPRECIATION CORNER

To all the volunteers who worked at the Arts at the Dock, Summer Festival and Community Night. All events went very well and that is due to the volunteers who have worked so hard in the preparation and running of the events.

To those who sponsored trophies for the car show and purchased sponsorships for the Lost Loon Music Festival. These events are run without funding from taxes.

To those who helped in any way with Community Night. In spite of the inclement weather in the Sault which reduced the crowd somewhat the night was financial success. The gross revenue was on par with previous years and some booths did an all time best. Invoices are still being received so the final net figures are not yet available.

To Mason Phelps and his committee who so effectively organized the CL-16 White Sail Regatta. It is a tremendous event and it brings much recognition to the area.

To the East Algoma Community Futures Development Corp. which provided funding to bring the Madeline to Hilton Beach. The crew was very impressed with their visit here especially the gun salute from the Coureur de Bois II. They indicated that there were a large number of people who toured the ship while she was in harbour. The grant funding enabled the Village to offer the experience without a fee.

To the Old Town Hall Concert Board for bringing the concert series to the Island again. Two of the three concerts were sold out and the third was just 9 tickets short of a sell out. Over the past ten years this series has provided much quality Canadian entertainment to area residents and visitors. A grant from the Ontario Arts Council helps to defray some of the costs.


EXPLANATION OF TAX RATES

The explanation provided with the tax bills was inadequate. The amount levied was indeed 5% more that the previous year. This was primarily due to an increase in some of the levies paid to other agencies such as Algoma District Homes for the Aged. The other component of the tax rate is the assessment base. As was indicated, there was a major problem with the reassessment that was used to create the 2004 assessment. Adjustments had to be made in 2004 and again in 2005 to correct the errors made by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. As ratepayers have until December 31st of a year to appeal the assessment Council had to estimate what the assessment base would be without knowing how many ratepayers would be appealing or what the decisions would be. Actually many adjustments for 2004 were received in 2005, some as recently as this month.

In summary, the tax rate is determined by dividing the amount that has to be raised by the assessment. The amount to be raised went up and the assessment went down so the tax rate changed more than the 5%. The effect on the individual tax bills varied according to the changes in the assessment for each property from one year to the next as well as the change of the proportion of the assessment of that property to the whole assessment pool. Therefore some ratepayers paid less and some paid more. If an assessment remained relatively the same from 2004 to 2005 the increase in taxes was greater than the 5% increase in levy.

The amounts levied does not include the costs for the marina expansion project or the Forest St. project as the Village share of those costs will be paid from the revenue from the respective projects.

If any ratepayer wishes to review their tax bill, please contact the Office.