Mo Laidlaw
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC – Council held its regular meeting on July 7 via videoconference with many questions from the public.
Susan Stanley and Stéphane Fortin asked about the status of the Tremblay Road boat ramp. Mayor Joanne Labadie said an engineering study was done in 2018 and the estimated cost of a compliant ramp is $300,000. Following the 2019 floods, repairing road infrastructure was a bigger priority for limited funds. The ramp will be part of the fall budget planning process.
Status of the washout on Bronson-Bryant Road was also of concern to Stanley. Labadie said replacing this culvert is a larger job than Alary Road was, and it’s still to be determined if and how much the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) will contribute.
Carl Hager asked about the Steele Line and Mountain Road repairs as well as derelict buildings. Public Works are advertising for new tenders for Mountain Road on the seao.ca website now that the modified plans are available. Council agreed to spend $80,000 to rent a compactor, buy granular material and hire a paving contractor to repair 200 m of Steele Line, with Public Works doing the excavation. Work began in mid-July. The urbanism department has a backlog, with no building inspector last year and inspections not allowed for much of this year. Derelict buildings will be dealt with when the backlog is gone.
A question about restrictions on the use of well water to water lawns during high temperature periods was posed by Valerie Miller. Labadie explained that the municipality has no jurisdiction over private wells and it’s up to individuals to reduce their water consumption as they see fit.
Mark German asked several questions about the new ch de l’Aventure, the Domaine des Chutes development near the town hall. Q: Will there be street lights? A: The developer installed one as required. Q: Are there plans to connect these lots to a water and sewer network? A: No, there are only 32 properties, and water and sewer would cost “multimillions”. Q: Why are the lot sizes all different? A: The developer proposed the sizes which were accepted by the previous council.
One resident mentioned that 100% of people polled about council remuneration are against the new bylaw. Labadie said council didn’t receive the survey and the bylaw has gone to committee, so it wasn’t on the agenda.
Another resident asked if the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) would be less expensive than the MRC-des-Collines police. Labadie explained the municipality has no say in which police force is used; the MRC and provincial government decide. The Ministry of Public Security has denied earlier requests, as the SQ has no jurisdiction in “metro Gatineau”, which includes the MRC-des-Collines. However, the MRC is looking at ways to reduce costs. The person also asked if the Elvis building in Quyon is compliant to codes since the floods. Labadie said it suffered no damage and therefore is compliant.
—- Quyon Mill for sale
Since the municipality can’t own a building for leasing purposes, the Mill and garage on Egan Road will be transferred to the private domain and put up for auction to the highest bidder (reserve price is $80,000).
—– Regional transport proposal
The four MRCs of West Québec are discussing a proposal for regional transport with TransCollines. This would include transport to Ottawa and Gatineau as well as between MRCs, with the goal of providing solutions for students.
—— Other matters
The municipality assumed responsibility for the Domaine des Chutes project (ch de l’Aventure), on the recommendation of Public works, now that deficiencies have been corrected. Approval was also given for a single family home to be there, complying to the PIA (architectural integration).
Evan Prest was rehired as a firefighter as he has returned to the municipality. He has 14 years previous experience with the Pontiac fire department.
The regulation committee suggested the bylaw for a backyard chicken pilot project should not include zoning, so a new bylaw was tabled.
Vous trouverez la version française en ligne à l’adresse suivante: www.journalpontiac.com.
