Mo Laidlaw
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC – Council held its regular council meeting, December 11 at the Luskville Community Centre. About 12 members of the public attended.
Public input
Mo Laidlaw
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC – Council held its regular council meeting, December 11 at the Luskville Community Centre. About 12 members of the public attended.
Public input
Sheila McCrindle asked again about the budget for compost pickup, due to start in June 2019; $35,000 has been put aside. Mayor Joanne Labadie said a tender has not yet been issued.
Joan Belsher asked when the consultant’s report on the 2017 flood will be
available. Labadie said it is late because of the second flood, vacations, and the loss of the communications director, but only requires a few administrative items. Belsher commented that she would have liked consultation on the budget, she doesn’t agree with door-to-door compost pick-up, and asked when the Quyon Community Centre will be open.
“There definitely won’t be a New Year’s Eve party [at the Community Centre],” said Labadie. The municipality expected to receive the key from the contractor on December 13, and begin installing kitchen appliances, hooking up gas, etc. The wheelchair ramp hasn’t been poured yet. There have been many challenges, particularly keeping within the $1.5 million budget with no contingency fund.
Carl Hager followed up his complaint from last year regarding the remains of a house fire from five years ago on his street, saying it is dangerous and decreases property values in the neighbourhood. Labadie explained it isn’t as easy as “bulldozing derelict houses”; there is a legal process to follow and considerable cost. “This issue comes up many times,” she said.
A self-described septic system expert who filed a complaint about his neighbour’s septic system seven months ago asked for follow-up. Labadie said the inspector ran tests and found nothing irregular and closed the file. The complainant insisted the test process was not done correctly.
A resolution was passed to request that Ontario’s Premier reverse the decision to remove services for francophones. Labadie said it supports minority
language rights across Canada, including anglophones in Québec. Councillor Maxsom voted against the resolution and also against the adoption of a policy on harassment in the workplace.
Following a Superior Court agreement on December 4, there will be an out-of-court settlement with Hélène Gervais and Alain Larose, who sued the municipality in 2016 regarding a building permit mix-up. No further details are available.
Approved expenses
The following expenses were approved: a 2.4 m diameter culvert for Kennedy Road for $21,305 and $18,833 for a 2.1 m culvert for Swamp Road from J.B. McClelland & Sons; the Federation of Québec Municipalities will provide $12,750 toward managing human resources; and a contract was given to Maria Eugenia Sahagun Huerta to coordinate the Quyon Community Centre project for a maximum of 260 hours at $36 per hour.
