Allyson Beauregard
MRC PONTIAC – Pontiac’s mayors met at the MRC building, September 18, for the monthly Council of Mayors meeting. Discussions included late and depleted funding programs, support for a Pontiac Sorting Centre material-grinding proposal, and another resolution concerning the spring floods.
Allyson Beauregard
MRC PONTIAC – Pontiac’s mayors met at the MRC building, September 18, for the monthly Council of Mayors meeting. Discussions included late and depleted funding programs, support for a Pontiac Sorting Centre material-grinding proposal, and another resolution concerning the spring floods.
Judy Blake, from Devonshire Park, along the PPJ, asked about the outcome of a meeting between the MRC and Vélo Québec, held August 22. Warden Jane Toller said the meeting went well and included a lot of information on the cycling industry’s potential. However, Gaston Allard (Fort-Coulonge), a member of the PPJ Committee, said the meeting was held “too early” because there is still a lot of information to gather. He said another meeting will follow, but it hasn’t been scheduled.
Following a request from the Association of Residents of Coulton, Bertrand and Wright Lakes at the last meeting for financial assistance to maintain its 21 kilometer access road, the MRC will invest up to $10,000 for rehabilitation work, including replacing twenty culverts.
The Association has already invested about $7,500 to grade 17 kilometers, but lacks the funds to continue.
A maximum of $50,000 will be spent to improve Schyan Road from kilometer 43 to 50, including ditch digging, adding gravel to hills and other problem areas, and replacing two culverts.
Kim Lesage, MRC engineer, said the MRC still hasn’t heard whether they will receive $150,000 in funding from Route Verte for the PPJ trail given that the application process opened late this year.
Only $25,000 of the MRC’s $150,000 portion remains. With winter approaching, Lesage said that if she does not hear from Route Verte shortly, she will solicit bids for replacing two culverts in the L’Isle-aux-Allumettes area identified as needing attention. If the extra $150,000 is awarded, she will also proceed with ditching and resurfacing.
Municipalities have been advised the Ministry of Transportation’s program
created to help them with muncipal road work until 2020 (Plan d’intervention
en infrasctructures routièrs local) has no funds remaining.
Engineering firm CIMA+ completed an in-depth study of the area’s roads in 2016,
specifying those needing work and identifying priorities; the $134,000 cost was
covered by the Ministry of Transport.
“It’s a big waste of time and money [if the funds are no longer available],” said Lesage. Council resolved to ask the government to inject funds into the program and reserve a portion for the MRC Pontiac.
In response to a public question last meeting concerning the promotional budget for the PPJ, Danielle Newman, Economic Development Director, said an estimated $14,000 was invested in 2018 and about $10,800 in 2019.
Council supports retaining local school board commissioners, something the CAQ government has threatened to abolish.
The mayors resolved to ask the federal and provincial governments to conduct an urgent independent inquiry into the dam management system in order to prevent problems in spring 2020. This resolution will be presented at an upcoming Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM) meeting to garner support from other MRCs.
To attract industries and investors to the Pontiac, Council supported a resolution adopted by Mansfield asking the government to extend a tax credit for transformation and fabrication materials for another four years to offer an incentive for prospective businesses.
Sorting Centre support
To help the Pontiac Sorting conform to Ministry regulations, Council supported its application to the Ministry of the Environment to shred some non-reusable construction materials like wood into small pieces to use as backfill in the neighboring Biopark.
According to Gerry Philippe, Sorting Centre Director of Operations, the method doesn’t pose any environmental risks, uses equipment they already have on-site, and would represent “a heck of a savings”
compared to transporting the waste to Lachute. Asbestos, drywall and insulation will not be included, but nails will be. Chipped materials will be
covered with earth on a daily basis, he said.
According to Philippe, since the business received a Ministry order in May to
conform to various requirements, about 90-95% of
their to-do list has been completed, including transporting almost all of the asbestos on site to an authorized disposal facility. “It would help us get rid of almost all the remaining waste,” he said.
