Council Minutes Sep 14/05

September 14, 2005

INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF HILTON BEACH
Council Meeting
September 14th, 2005

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were Reeve Hore and Councillors Crack and Stevens. Councillor Hope had provided notice that he would be very late because of work and Councillor Sullivan had indicated that she would not be able to attend.

Bud Wildman and Jack Tindall were present representing the Rural Energy Alternative Developments Steering Committee. This Committee is investigating small scale alternative energy opportunities for area farmers, businesses, individuals and municipalities. They will collect and disseminate information and facilitate but not be directly project oriented. They have decided to focus on energy production from wind and bio mass (various forms of vegetation, etc.). Committee members are making presentations at all area municipal Councils to ensure that they are aware of the initiative and to seek support. A figure of $500 from each municipality and farm group was suggested so that the Committee would have a small fund to work with. The Village has already passed a resolution of support in principle. As energy prices rise the payback period for alternative energy projects decline. Mr. Wildman and Mr. Tindall answered questions from Council and then Reeve Hore thanked them for their presentation.

05-129 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to approve the minutes of the August 18th, 2005 meeting as presented.
Carried

Reeve Hore declared a conflict of interest on the voucher and as that left no quorum for that item it was deferred until the arrival of Councillor Hope.

The Problem Detail Sheet was reviewed. One item was closed as the fascia on The Waterfront Centre was repaired and others are being worked on. No new items were added.

The Clerks Report was noted. August was an extremely busy month with both the capital projects and regular municipal operations. There is work to get caught up now that the very busy summer period is over.

The Landfill Report showed that several loads of material were brought in during August. Reeve Hore brought Council up to date on the recent annual maintenance that was done on the site. A new trench was dug and the old trench area will be used as the burn site. It is expected that the new trench area will not have the same problem with the bags blowing around as it will be better protected from the wind. A fence will be erected on the dirt berm to stop the bags from flying around if it is necessary.

Review of the 2005 marina season to date showed an increase in revenue. Transient dockage was up by 7% over last year which is positive in this year of high gas prices. There was also a net gain in seasonal dockage. Once the season is over a complete comparable statement will be produced.

Acknowledgement of the application under the Special Assistance program to recover the shortfall of operating funding under the Community Reinvestment Fund was received from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The application is being reviewed by MMAH staff.

The revised amendment for the Certificate of Approval for the water system has been submitted. The work must be done by June 30th, 2006.

The deadline for project completion under the Canada Ontario Infrastructure Program has been extended to March 31st, 2008. This is the program under which funding for the water system upgrades will come. Because the groundwater study will not be completed until March 31st, 2006 the well head protection plan cannot be competed until June 30th, 2006. Thus Council decided to request an extension that will allow for even further delays as well as time to process payments.

05-130 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to apply for an extension to complete the Canada-Ontario OSTAR project to March 31st, 2007 to allow for the completion of the groundwater study and well-head protection plan.
Carried

A letter was received from the Great Lakes Cruising Club regarding the 2006 Rendezvous. The Club has chosen Hilton Beach as the preferred site. Planning will begin immediately. The Club does want confirmation of the access to 50 amp power for the event and a plan is being finalized and will be submitted to the Club. Spanish who hosted the GLCC in 2004 has provided the Village with their information and has offered to lend their adaptors that will allow a boat to access 50 amp service from two 30 amp services.

The Municipal Status Report was received from MPAC. It clearly shows the massive changes in assessment from 2003 to 2004 to 2005. The wild fluctuations have caused considerable hardship to the Village as levies are based on the Assessment Roll as returned and the fact that there were huge reductions during the year do not change these levies with the exception of the school board.

Notification was received on the annual general meeting of the North Channel Marine Tourism Council. Reeve Hore is a director of the Council and will attend.

There appears to be agreement among the municipalities that there is no need for separate meetings with the Council and the public for each municipality with regard to the proposed new zoning by-law.

The Township of North Frontenac circulated a resolution proposing that funding to municipalities for capital projects be inversely related to their size. Reasons include the fact that 44% of the municipalities have a population under 5,000, many of these provide services to a large seasonal population and funding does not consider this fact and that the smaller communities have been severest hit by the downloading from the Province. Council concurred that the current funding system was not working and that changes were needed.

05-131 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to support in principle the position of the Township of North Frontenac that until such time that the Province removes the obligation of funding many social programs through the municipal property base that the Province develops and institutes minimum capital program funding thresholds that are inversely proportional to their permanent and non-permanent populations.
Carried

A summary of the project was received from that Not for Profit Board that had been established to help coordinate the redevelopment of the Algoma Manor. This Board has transferred the redevelopment agreement back to the Board of Management. The Board provided assurance that the redevelopment project will proceed in some form although the design and timetable are not specifically known. Confirmation was received that an additional amount of funding will be received in 2005 for the Hilton Web Connection. This funding will help to offset the capital and operating costs of the site.

The draft plan for the Village was reviewed again. This plan will set the priorities for the municipality for the next few years. Copies will be made available at the Office and on the Village website for community input. As many of our ratepayers are relatively new there is a preamble including a historical background. After the October 31st comment period is over the input will be reviewed and the final draft of the plan will be prepared. The plan covers both operational and capital aspects.

Council considered the request from the Rural Energy Alternative Developments for $500 in seed funding. While Council did not think that a flat amount from all organizations was equitable they were of the opinion that it would be most difficult to come up with a formula quickly since both municipal and non-municipal groups will be involved. Thus for this start-up period Council concurred with the flat fee.

05-132 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to approve $500 for the Rural Energy Alternative Developments.
Carried

The committee for the groundwater study has met and selected Harden Environmental to complete the study. They will be collecting information that has already been compiled as well as obtaining their own data.

The Ministry of the Environment provided an agreement that will allow the consultants for the groundwater study to use the well records. The agreement clearly states that this data is to be used only for this purpose. The usual licence fee will be waived.

05-133 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to sign an agreement with the Ministry of the Environment for the use of the digital Water Well Information for use only in the St. Joseph Island Groundwater Protection Studies Project. The term will be from September 16th, 2005 to March 31st, 2006 and there will be no licence fee for this use.
Carried

The draft changes to the marina policy were reviewed. It clarifies that there are two seasons, in the water and out of the water, and that no boats can remain on land during the former. It also addresses the issue of mechanical repair, which was highlighted as an issue with the accident in the Little Current marina this summer. Once finalized these clauses will be inserted in the existing agreement.

Councillor Hope had arrived during the above discussion.

05-134 Moved by R. Hope Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to authorize payment of Voucher #05-08 in the amount of $151,136.25.
Carried

Council had to go into closed meeting to discuss a land issue.

Councillor Hope had to leave at this time.

05-135 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to go into closed meeting.
Carried


05-136 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to return to open meeting.
Carried

05-137 Moved by W. Stevens Seconded by L. Crack
Resolved to give first, second and third readings to By-law #857 being a by-law to confirm the proceedings of the Council meeting held on September 14th, 2005 and confirm the taking of any action authorized therein and thereby.
Carried

05-138 Moved by L. Crack Seconded by W. Stevens
Resolved to adjourn to meet again on October 12th, 2005 or at the call of the Reeve.
Carried









OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT

Jacob Pollari deserves very special recognition as the second place finisher in the Canadian National Moto-Cross competition held in Walton, ON. The competitors were from both Canada and the United States. This is truly an outstanding achievement and one that he, his family and his community can be extremely proud.


APPRECIATION CORNER

To everyone who supported the Open Air Market this summer including bringing bags so that none had to be purchased. The funds from the produce sales and table rent this year will be used to purchase a large chess and checker sets to be used t h the waterfront by residents and visitors.

To Terry Roberts of Permanent Electric who saw some good equipment being discarded and salvaged it for the Village.

To Don Gilbertson who donated the rock chair to the marina. He placed it between the Waterfront Centre and the breakwater and it is incorporated into the landscaping of the area. This is quite an anomaly and will be a conversation piece for all who come to enjoy the marina.


HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITY

Please remember that items deemed to be hazardous waste will no longer be accepted at the landfill. Paint, propane tanks, sharps, batteries of all kinds, oil, old prescriptions for drugs should be brought to the Sault Ste. Marie Site at 115 Industrial Park Cres (turn left just before Soo Mill). You just drive through and the attendant will take your items. The Village pays $7/household per year for this service. It will help to protect our groundwater.