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COMMUNITY OF MISCOUCHE
57TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MARCH 27, 2014
1. OPENING OF MEETING
Chairperson, Peter Mallett called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. and welcomed everyone in attendance to this our 57th annual meeting of the Community.
Present:
Peter Mallett – Chairperson
Ivan Blanchard – Vice-Chairperson
Joan Arsenault – Councilor
John Gillis – Councilor
Mike MacKinnon – Councilor
Judy Gallant – Administrator
And: David MacFadyen – Account – BDO Canada
And: Paul Perry – Deputy Fire Chief
And: Pierre Arsenault – Chairperson of Wellington Community Council
And: 5 residents
Absent: Ben Murphy – Councilor
2. MOMENT OF SILENCE
Chairperson Peter Malled called for a moment of silence in memory of all residents of the Community who passed away during the past year.
3. ADOPTION OF MINUTES
MOTION moved by Julie Albert, seconded by Jean Blanchard and carried,
THAT the minutes of the Annual Meeting held on March 20, 2013 be approved
as presented.
4. BUSINESS ARISING – Nil
5. COUNCIL’S ANNUAL REPORT by Chairperson Peter Mallett.
During the past year Council members attended 12 regular monthly meetings and 8 special meetings held in the Community. Council members also attended numerous other meetings outside the Community with various individuals and organizations to discuss projects and issues relating to the Community and its residents.
During the past year there were 14 building permits issued which included the construction of 6 new single family dwellings, 1 duplex dwelling, 4 garages, 2 storage buildings as well as other home improvements around the Community. The total value of the building permits was $1,478,500.00.
With the construction of these new dwellings and with several new families moving into our Community we continue to be on a positive growth trend and on behalf of my fellow Council members I wish to welcome all new residents to our Community.
Upgrades and improvements are continuing to be made to community owned properties. During the past year we purchased a new tractor for community maintenance work. This tractor also has an attachable snow blower and sale spreader to clear snow and ice off our sidewalks. We have also hired Paul Gaudet on a part time basis to operate the tractor in the cleaning and salting of our sidewalks. A new detached garage/stroage building was also constructed at the back of our
Municipal building to house our maintenance truck and tractor.
In response to requests to set up an annual scholarship for a grade 12 graduate student from Miscouche who would be attending a University or College following their graduation we were pleased to present the first annual Community of Miscouche $1,000.00 Scholarship to community resident Katie MacKay who was attending the University of Guelph, Ontario in September of last year. Our congratulations go out to Katie.
The Community has now completed its second full year as the new owners of the Rec Centre and during the past year activities at the Rec Centre have increased. We continue to provide a base for the religion classes and regular Blood Donor Clinics and attendances at our regular weekly bingos are steadily growing. In addition there have been increased youth activities at the Rec Centre which included a 7 week summer day camp and after school GoPlay activities for youth. The Rec Centre also continues to be rented out for numerous other activities including banquets, meetings and family gatherings. Council has also been working over the past year with our Rec Centre Manager and individual organizations to bring additional activities to the Rec Centre in the coming years. The day to day operation of the Rec Centre continues to be carried out by our Rec Centre Manager, Robert Gallant. There are also a large number of individuals who have generously volunteered their time to help carry out activities at the Rec Centre and we with to thank Robert and all those volunteers for helping make the Rec Centre such a valuable asset to our Community.
Continued monitoring of our sewer system is carried out on a regular basis and if any problems do arise we attempt to make the necessary repairs as soon as possible. Upgrades and improvements, when needed, are also carried out on our sewer system. Regular cleaning of our sewer mains is another essential element in keeping our sewer system operating properly. As in previous years we have continued with the cleaning of several sections of our sewer mains each year and last year we cleaned another approximately 3.5 kilometers of sewer lines and we plan to do another 3.5 kilometers again this year.
In addition to our Municipal owned buildings, we also have playgrounds, parks, green spaces and a BMX park and these areas need to be maintained and kept clean and we tend to overlook that someone has to keep these areas neat and tidy on a regular basis. Overseeing regular maintenance of our communities properties and sewer system is an essential ongoing task which is carried out by our maintenance worker Bobby DesRoches and at this time we wish to thank Bobby for the excellent work he has done for us over the past year.
In response to residents request to try and have our sidewalks cleared of snow during the winter we had purchased the equipment needed and although we were able to have all the sidewalks cleared on a fairly regular basis during the first part of the winter season the remaining portion of the winter season saw an unusual amount of snow fall and we were forced to limit the snow removal to only a small portion of the sidewalks including that portion leading to School Street.
Another essential part of our Community is our fire department. While we continue to see notices in our local papers of fire departments across the Island looking for more volunteer firemen we are very fortunate to have a group of firemen who are willing to continue with
volunteering their time to respond to our distress calls at any time of the day or night and in all kinds of weather. Some times we all tend to forget that we could find ourselves in an emergency situation at any time. Our volunteer firemen continue to spend numerous hours training to enhance their skills so that they learn how to best help us, whether that be as a fireman or as a medical first responder. Our firemen continue to provide us, as well as the residents of the surrounding district with the peace of mind that they are ready and willing to respond to any emergency we may have. Members of both the Community Council and the Fire Department continue to work together to better serve the needs of our residents and as in previous years upgrading and maintenance of fire fighting equipment is essential. Our Deputy Fire Chief, Paul Perry, will be providing you with a more detailed list of the upgrades and improvements that have occured over the past year in his report. On behalf of my fellow Councilors and the residents of Miscouche I wish to extend our since thanks to all our firemen for providing this essential service to us.
At this time I wish to thank my fellow Council members and our Administrator for their hard work and dedication to the Community and its residents during the past year and I look forward to working with you over the next year.
On behalf of myself and my fellow Council members I would also like to thank you, the residents of our Community for all your assistance and support during the past year and we look forward to working with you in the coming year. We also wish to thank each and every one of you for helping to make our Community a great place to live.
MOTION moved by Corey Gillis, seconded by Julia Albert and carried,
THAT the Council’s annual report be approved.
6. FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT presented by Deputy Fire Chief Paul Perry
on behalf of Fire Chief Jason Woodbury.
On behalf of our Chief, Jason Woodbury, who was unable to attend tonight’s meeting, I wish to give the following report. Jason has been our Fire Chief for the past 5 years.
Our community is very fortunate that we do not suffer from the National retention concerns as other departments in the province and in Canada however, the possibilities are always there. We continue to have a waiting list for individuals who want to join the department.
Safety continues to be our number one concern for all our firefighters. With that in mind, updating our equipment is a priority and also comes with a cost. A cost that is impossible to ignore. Over the past years it has been a priority to ensure that all our firefighters have personal protective equipment. Overseeing this policy is our safety officer, Gary Myers. In addition our officers continue to develop and work on policy procedures that reflect due diligences and in turn eliminate risk of liability on myself, my officers and our Community.
Paul Perry continues to be the Deputy Fire Chief of the department. Our executive has not changed since our last annual meeting. Our safety officer is Gary Myers, treasurer is Robert Gallant, training officer is Adam Gallant and secretary is Blaine Gallant.
Currently we have 30 volunteer firefighters in our department, they are as follows:
Jason Woodbury – Chief, Paul Perry – Deputy Chief, Johnny Doucette – Dispatcher, Gary Myers – Safety Officer, Peter Gallant – Captain, Mike Gallant – Captain, Adam Gallant – Training Officer, Cory DesRoches – Lieutenant, Doug Trowsdale – Captain, John Mitchell – Lieutenant, Billy Arsenault – Captain, and firefighters Mike Arsenault, Kelly MacLeod, Ricky Myers, Amy Paynter, Blaine Gallant, Jagger Doucette, Robert Gallant, Gavin Gallant, Corey Gillis, Tyler Jeffery, Rafael Cierra, Terry Arsenault, Johnathan Myers, Chris Greencorn, Nathan Waite, Mitchell Myers, Dylan Foley, Jamie Cormier and Shawn Miehm.
Over this past year we responded to a total of 50 emergency calls which included 29 medical, 7 MVC, 1 structure, 4 alarm calls, 4 mutual aid, 1 rescue, 1 flue fire, 1 vehicle fire and 1 other. In comparison to 2012 our emergency calls has decreased 8% for 2013.
The Miscouche Fire Dept continues to operate 5 emergency apparatus and they include 1 rescue unit, 1 tanker and 2 pumpers and a trail rescue sled.
Apparatus maintenance has been a priority over the past years to ensure that all emergency vehicles are in good working order for the safety of the firefighters and to provide reliable fire protection to the communities.
We continue to have an extensive annual maintenance program for all our apparatus’. The annual maintenance on the apparatus eliminates costly repairs in fact; we have been able to limit the maintenance budget by 50 percent compared to previous years.
Recently we have entertained the idea to council to invest in a rapid response vehicle. I strongly believe that this sort of vehicle would 1) bring operational costs down; since 58% of our calls have been medical 2) this sort of vehicle would provide a more efficient response to the majority of our calls. I would strongly recommend the tax payers of this community to entertain a motion tonight, to proceed with this addition to your fire department.
Last year, two of our larger purchases were a used set of Jaws of Life and a new roof saw. The majority of our new equipment that we purchase is used equipment from arlger services, we are very fortunate to have a good working relationship with other departments. The used equipment is well maintained and still certified prior to us receiving it and will serve our communities for many years to come.
The department does not have any plans for any larger equipment purchases this coming year. However we did complete an application for grant to purchase a set of airbags to assist in vehicle extrication. The total project would have been ten thousand costs shared by the province 50 cents on the dollar. At this time we will not be submitting the application as council have not given us the approval to proceed with the application.
Over the past year, your fire department continues to work closely with the Council of Miscouche. At this time, I would like to recognize Chairperson, Peter Mallett and the rest of the Councillors for the work they have done in the past year. We are looking forward to working together in the year to come.
MOTION moved by Sonny Gallant, seconded by Jean Blanchard and carried,
THAT the Fire Department’s annual report be approved as read.
7. PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF 2013 FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Copies of the 2013 Financial Statement which was prepared by BDO Chartered Accountants were distributed prior to the meeting. The Financial Statement was read over by our Accountant, David MacFadyen. The statement showed combined revenues of $404,877.00 for both general and sewer and combined expenses of $385.681.00 for both general and sewer, for a surplus of $19,196.00. Mr. MacFadyen advised that the Community continued to be very stable and is in a good financial position. Mr. MacFadyen invited questions from the residents and none were presented.
MOTION moved by Julia Albert, seconded by Sonny Gallant and carried,
THAT the 2013 Financial Statement be approved as presented.
8. PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL OF 2014 BUDGET
Copies of the 2014 Proposed Budget were passed out to the residents. Chairperson Peter Mallett read over the 2014 proposed Budget for the residents approval item by item as follows:
A) FIRE DEPARTMENT
MOTION moved by Jean Blanchard, seconded by Julia Albert and carried,
THAT the Fire Dept budget be approved at $38,350 for administration and miscellaneous
and $27,500.00 for truck maintenance, training and new equipment, plus an additional
amount of $40,000.00 to replace the water tanker for a grand total of $105,850.00.
B) FIREHALL/MUNICIPAL BUILDING
MOTION moved by Julia Albert, seconded by Corey Gillis and carried,
THAT the general budget for the firehall/Municipal building be set at $50,620.00.
C) ADMINISTRATION
MOTION moved by Sonny Gallant, seconded by Jean Blanchard and carried,
THAT the administration budget be set at $51,300.00.
D) RECREATION/community services, street lights, municipal federation dues, professional
fees, capital expenditures, reserve fund, rec centre operating expenses and debt retirement
and a grant to Miscouche Legion.
MOTION moved by Julia Albert, seconded by Sonny Gallant and carried,
THAT Recreation/community services be set at $3,000.00, street lights be set at
$20,000.00, Municipal Federation Dues be set at $1,700.00, Professional fees be set
at $5,000.00, Reserve Fund be set at $25,000.00, Recreation Centre general operations
be set at $53,400.00, Debt Retirement be set at $33,600.00, Capital Expenditures be set at
$50,000.00 and a grant to Miscouche Legion be set at $8,000.00 for a total of $199,700.00.
E) PROPOSED ADDITIONAL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ON RECREATION CENTRE
The residents were advised that the proposed project to carry out upgrades and improvements to the Recreation Centre did not proceed in 2013 because of a lack of sufficient funding through Provincial and Federal Grants. However Council feel that the Community may have a better chance of securing grant funding this year to carry out the proposed upgrades and improvements which are estimated to cost $136,000.00. The grants, if approved, would cover the majority of the costs. Following discussion:
MOTION moved by Julia Albert, seconded by Jean Blanchard and carried,
THAT approval for additional capital expenditures for improvements and upgrades
at the Rec Centre at a cost of $136,000.00 is conditional upon the applications for
grant funding to cover the majority of the costs have been approved.
The grand total of the 2014 general budget will be $407,470.00 for expenditures with an estimated revenue of $359,284.00 for a deficit of $48,186.00. Conditional approval for additional capital expenditures in the amount of $136,000.00 for improvements and upgrades to the Rec Centre is granted only if approval for grant funding has been received to cover the majority of the costs for the improvements.
F) SEWER
MOTION moved by Sonny Gallant, seconded by Julia Albert and carried,
THAT the operation budget be set at $67,700.00, depreciation and debt
retirement at $28,700.00 for a total of $96,400.00 with a projected income of
$51,400.00 for a deficit of $45,000.00.
9. NEW BUSINESS
– Fire Dept – Request for Rapid Response Vehicle
Council members advised that due to issues raised over the past few months over the current condition of the water tank on the Fire Department’s tanker, they would like to concentrate our efforts on obtaining a water tanker replacement first before looking at other issues relating to vehicles.
10. OTHER BUSINESS
– 2 Door Prizes of $50.00 each were made.
The first ticket holder winner was Sonny Gallant and the second ticket holder winner
was David MacFadyen.
11. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION moved by Sonny Gallant, seconded by Julia Albert and carried,
THAT the 57th annual meeting be adjourned.