MRC Pontiac’s December meeting: TNO budget gains, new forestry plans,
and bylaw battle
Bonnie James
Local Journalism Initiative
Published January 15, 2025.
MRC PONTIAC – The MRC Pontiac’s Council of Mayors’ (CoM) monthly meeting was held December 18 at the MRC headquarters in Litchfield. About a dozen Alleyn-et-Cawood (AC) residents and supporters attended.
TNO budget 2025
Annie Vaillancourt, MRC Director of Finance and Administration, presented the TNO’s 2025 budget. The TNO is expecting a balanced budget of $1,019,389 for 2025; up from $888,771 in 2024.
The largest expense is transport, including road maintenance, at $700,000 (69% of total expenses), up by $200,000 from last year. The additional funds are coming from the surplus, which is larger than expected due to increased revenue from leases and lower overall expenses. The money will go towards more road grading and other road improvements.
New forestry project
Warden Jane Toller said she met with Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel in Ottawa,
elaborating on that meeting later in the media scrum. A group of investors are
interested in reopening one of the defunct Pontiac mills for a pulp and biomass project.
Toller met with Chatel to seek support for the project and to request meetings on behalf of the investors with federal Ministers Steven Guilbeault (Environment) and François-Philippe Champagne (Innovation, Science, and Industry). Toller said she also met with Pontiac MNA André Fortin regarding the project.
Toller is optimistic that, if successful, the project would benefit the beleaguered Commonwealth Plywood mill in Rapides-des-Joachims by providing a local site to ship biomass to, thus cutting transportation costs.
“The difference this time is these investors are credible and have other facilities that are successful. Their technology is proven,” said Toller, adding that if all goes well, the business plan could be in place this year and the mill could open in 6 – 12 months.
Calculation of municipal shares
The meeting agenda included a vote on the new bylaw for the calculation
of municipal shares, presented at the November council meeting.
At a December 14 public information session held in Danford Lake, Toller invited expert property evaluator Charles Lapoutre to present to the mayors at the January
plenary meeting regarding the issues surrounding property evaluations and the calculation of municipal shares.
In light of the upcoming presentation, AC Mayor Carl Mayer moved to delay the bylaw vote until the January meeting, after the mayors had a chance to hear from Lapoutre. The motion failed 13 to 5, with only Carl Mayer, Brent Orr (Bristol), Alain Gagnon (Bryson), Robin Zacharias (pro-mayor, Otter Lake), and Robert Wills (pro-mayor, Thorne) voting to postpone the vote.
The vote on the new bylaw followed and passed, 15 to 3, with Zacharias, Wills, and Mayer voting against.
Under the new bylaw, shares will now be calculated based on 50% of a municipality’s total property values and 50% of the total standardized value, as determined by the comparative factor. For example, if a home is valued at $100,000, and the comparative factor is set at 2, the standardized value becomes $200,000. So, for the purpose of municipal share calculations, the property would be valued at $150,000. Under the previous bylaw, shares were calculated solely on the standardized value.
Although the bylaw passed, Lapoutre is still slated to speak at January’s plenary meeting, and Toller said the bylaw can be adjusted as needed.
The next CoM meeting will be held January 22.
Photo: Mayors Carl Mayer, Brent Orr, Alain Gagnon, and Pro-Mayors Robin Zacharias and Robert Wills vote to postpone voting on the new municipal shares bylaw. (BJ)