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COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES- November 9th, 2021


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RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF MISCOUCHE
Monthly Council Meeting
November 9th, 2021

1. OPENING MEETING
Mayor Albert Gallant called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M.

Present:
Albert Gallant – Mayor
Allan Parks – Deputy Mayor
Jacqueline Lecky- Councillor
Pat MacLellan – Councillor(absent)
John Searle- Councillor
Ivan Blanchard- Councillor
Joan Arsenault – Councillor(Absent)
Michelle Perry- CAO

Before the meeting started the Eddie Laughlin Award was awarded to Claudette Cramm. Claudette was nominated by Julie Crabb.

2. Declaration of Conflict of Interest: No one declared a conflict of interest.

3. FIRE DEPARTMENT: Chief Jason Woodbury gave the following report.
They had 2 calls on Halloween night, and then a few nights later the old School burnt in Lot 16. The interviews went well for Deputy chief there was 2 applications and they were both good candidates. Jason is recommending to council that Doug Trowsdale be appointed as Deputy Chief and that if council approves he would like to make the announcement at the Christmas dinner Dec 4th. Chase the Ace is getting busier now that there is less cards. Jason was also speaking with Minister Fox that they are looking in to see if the Under Writers would change the replacement plan of 20 + 5 years for trucks for small communities since the trucks do not get used as much as the bigger cities. There is still 2 fire fighters not vaccinated.

Albert thanks Jason and John for the report.

MOTION moved by John Searle seconded by Ivan Blanchard and carried
THAT the Community go with Chief Jason Woodbury recommendation to appoint Doug Trowsdale as Deputy Fire Chief.

Fire Service Review: The fire committee received the review from Bill Hogan and provided copies to the rest of council and the Fire Chief to review the document and at the December 14th meeting the committee will bring there recommendations to council.

4. MAINTENANCE REPORT: Monty MacAusland gave the following report: The slip tank that was ordered through Corcoran’s is still not in stock due to manufacturing issues. So there is 2 options.
Option 1 they can borrow a 40 gallon drum from Lockhart’s which you will need to purchase the fuel from them. Option 2 purchase your own drum and buy a pump and store it in the garage when not in use.

MOTION moved by John Searle seconded by Allan Parks and carried
THAT the Community purchase the Drum and Pump so they will have their own and cancel the order from Corcoran’s.

Safety Hatch was installed on the Kinsmen Rd and 1 of the pumps have been rebuilt. It was in bad shape as it was not maintained for at least 10 years. Monty suggested that the pumps be pulled on an annual basis to make sure that they are in good working condition. The pump at the east lagoon was sent in for service and all 4 pumps will be maintained this year, so when they are finished the community will have 2 good back up pumps.

MOTION moved by John Searle seconded by Allan Parks and carried
THAT the Community do annual maintenance on the pumps for the lift stations and that logs be keep on the maintenance.

5. REC CENTER REPORT: Councilor Jacqueline Lecky gave the following report: There are 3 volunteers that have been helping out over the past year and have been faithfully there every Sunday helping get things set up before the bingo starts. They are not looking for anything in return, but she though it would be a good gesture to give them a token of appreciation with a gift card. Not any bingo passes.

MOTION moved by Jacqueline Lecky seconded by Ivan Blanchard and carried
THAT the Community give $50.00 gift cards to the Bingo Workers as well as the 3 Volunteers that help out through the year setting up for the bingo.

6. ADOPTION OF MINUTES: Meeting minutes for October 12th, 2021

MOTION moved by Jacqueline Lecky seconded by John Searle and carried
THAT the minutes for October 12th, 2021 be approved as presented.

7. BUSINESS ARISING:
a)West Lagoon ICIP Funding: There is still no word if the funding was approved yet. Mayor Albert stated that he will check with Bobby Morrissey Office to see if there is any update.
b) Pesticides in the community: The resident responded back to council through email that they were disappointed that council was not taking this issue more seriously. And if they would consider issuing permits like Summerside does. Council discussed this and have decided that they are not going to issue permits as they still have no way to police the issue if someone does not get a permit. And as long as the company that is spaying is registered with the province, they do not have any concerns.
c) Sidewalks on Wilfred St: Albert spoke with Engineer and he was going to send the figures of the cost to put them in to the office. The engineer also stated that the government will not be contributing to the project. It was asked if that was the response then it should be in writing. And council wanted to know about the liability if someone gets hurt on that street. Allan advised that council should still pursue it. Albert gave Allan the authority to look into this further to get the answers.
d) Prizes for the Christmas Decorating Contest:

MOTION moved by Allan Parks seconded by John Searle and carried
THAT the prizes for the decorating contest be the same as last year $100.00 for 1st place $75.00 for 2nd place and $50.00 for 3rd place.

e) Clean Up Order 100 Lady Slipper Dr S: The clean up order was issued and signed by the residents. The resident is aware of what needs to be done and the time frame to have it completed.
f) Skate Park Equipment: The equipment will not be here till December now due to manufacturing issues. There was some concerns about how the funding will work if we are not able to install it till the Spring. Michelle sent a message to the funding to see how that will work and is waiting for a reply.
g) Sledding Hill: This will be tabled till next meeting as Pat was absent from the meeting.

8. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
a) Fire Dept: Already discussed
b) Planning Board- Development Permits- 90 Kelly Drive & 3 McMillan Dr both building Private Garages.
c) Sewer: Past Due Accounts: There is still $15,922.25 outstanding in unpaid accounts. Michelle wanted to know if council wanted to have the disconnect letters sent out on the accounts over $300.
Council discussed this and wanted to have the disconnect orders sent out for 30 days if payment has not been received. Michelle will get these out by Friday.
d) Firehall Maintenance & Street Lights: Jacqueline reported a street light that was out.
e) Community Improvements:
f) Finances: Everything is good.

9. APPROVAL OF BILLS TOTALING $ 34,199.72

MOTION moved by Ivan Blanchard seconded by John Searle and carried
THAT the payment of the bills totaling $ 34,199.72 is approved.

Annual Eddie Laughlin Award was awarded to Corey, Robin, Jessica and Kenny Gillis this year. They were nominated by Sonny and Linda Gallant.

10. NEW BUSINESS:
a) Annual Donation to PCH:

MOTION moved by Jacqueline Lecky seconded by Ivan Blanchard and carried
THAT the Community contribute the annual donation of $1,000.00 to the Prince County Hospital.

b) Slemon Park Continuity Plan: council received an email from Slemon Park to see if they ever had a disaster that they would need to close their kitchen facility that they could use the Rec Center at a cost till their kitchen was in working order again. Council had some concerns about the Bingo on Sunday evening as they would not want to lose their players if they had to close for awhile. That was the real issue that they would have to face in the event if something happened. Michelle advised that she will reach out to the contact person from Slemon Park to advise that the 6 days would work but they would not want to give up Sunday Bingo.

c) Christmas Bonus: Council discussed doing the same as last year except for the Fire department as last year they were given gift cards as they did not have their annual meal, and this year they will be having it.

MOTION moved by John Searle seconded by Ivan Blanchard and carried
THAT the Christmas Bonus will stay the same as last year for everyone except the Fire department as they will be having their Christmas Meal this year.

d) At this time the resident of 92 Lady Slipper Dr N addressed the council on potentially using the Fire Truck to flush the sewer line at the residents as it is a really long run and they want to do preventive maintenance on the line. Council discussed this and since there is a policy on no personal use of the fire trucks, they decided to put it on an annual basis to have the clean outs flushed every year before the annual sewer flushing

d) Shared Office Space: Michelle advised council of the potential of 2 communities wanting to rent the office space as the new MGA says that by December 2022 all communities need 20 hrs of office space for the residents. Council had some questions on how it would work. Michelle advised that she maybe CAO for all 3 communities and the other communities would pay an amount for the office space which Miscouche could put towards wages. Council would like to have a proposal from the other communities to see what the cost would look like. Michelle advised that it is early in the process and the other communities would have to decided if this is the route that they want to take before any proposal can be made. Right now it is just food for thought to see if Miscouche would be interested in sharing the space.

11. NEXT MEETING: December 14th, 2021

12. MEETING ADJOURNED

MOTION moved by John Searle THAT the meeting of November 9th, 2021 be adjourned.