Allyson Beauregard
CAMPBELL’S BAY – The 18 MRC Pontiac mayors met at the MRC building, May 16, for the monthly Council of Mayors (CoM) meeting. One of the hotly debated topics was the MRC’s decision to not fund visitor parking at the Pontiac Community Hospital (see page 2).
Allyson Beauregard
CAMPBELL’S BAY – The 18 MRC Pontiac mayors met at the MRC building, May 16, for the monthly Council of Mayors (CoM) meeting. One of the hotly debated topics was the MRC’s decision to not fund visitor parking at the Pontiac Community Hospital (see page 2).
To begin, there was a moment of silence in honour of former Clarendon Mayor Jack Lang who passed away May 15. Lang served his municipality for 24 years.
Council agreed to move forward with the tendering process for renovating the
old portion of the MRC building. The estimated $248,000 needed will come from the MRC’s accumulated surplus.
A motion was made to begin discussing remuneration for an elected warden. The projected salary is estimated at about $52,000, with the election costing about $80,000 every four years. Warden Raymond Durocher said he is interested in the position, but is considering a variety of factors before he officially makes his intentions known in June.
The MRC will continue their agreement with Transcollins to maintain
the Highway 148 bus route from L’Isle-aux-Allumettes to Ottawa. The MRC’s cost increased slightly from $29,500 last year to $29,584 this year. The MRC will also work with Transcollins to identify the needs of riders to increase the service’s use and possibly add a number of short routes by working with TransporAction. The MRC will apply to a MTQ program which could provide $10,000 to cover the costs of a feasibility study.
TNO road maintenance
Council approved a financing plan for work on Bois Franc Road. The government will provide $436,000 and another program will invest $69,000, which will cover 90% of the work needed. The other 10% ($56,000) will
be covered by the MRC ($26,000 from the TNO lease fund, $15,000 from the TNO road maintenance fund, and Mansfield will finance $15,000). Regent Dugas, MRC Director of Territory, said the work will begin at kilometre 18 and continue “as far as the money goes.” The MRC has not received a response concerning the additional $700,000 they requested to repair the northern portion of the road.
Three culverts need to be replaced along Osborne Road, for a total of about $40,000. The MRC will move forward with the repairs and cover the costs, but will ask for contributions from the forest industry. “It’s an emergency to fix it. It’s a major road,” said Dugas.
Considering electric transportation
Council authorized between $3,000 to $5,000 for a study to gauge the
feasibility of installing electric car charging stations in the Pontiac and adding an electric car to the MRC’s fleet. Grants are available to cover up to 80% of the costs of the vehicle and charging stations through Programme SAUVeR.
Composting survey
Pontiac residents are asked to respond to a short survey about their composting habits to provide crucial information for the update of the MRC’s Waste Management Plan on June 30, and help municipalities maximize provincial subsidies for waste management. The survey is published in this edition (page 8) and some were mailed.
The government’s new regulatory framework for waste disposal could add a tax burden to municipalities that did not have an organic waste recycling program in place in 2016. The government’s redistribution of fees program for waste management is becoming increasingly based on performance rather than population. By 2019, 80% of the fund will be reserved for those meeting waste management targets. The MRC will work with municipalities over the next year to implement the proposed measures.
According to Kari Richardson, MRC Environ-mental Coordinator, many
citizens already compost, but there is no way of tracking quantities at this time. The survey will shed some light on this situation and help in the development of an action plan. It is estimated that about 55% of the household waste collected in the MRC Pontiac is organic matter.
The next meeting will be held June 20.
