Public Council Meeting Feb. 21, 2020

Before the opening of the public meeting of Council, Mayor François Ghali announced that he was taking a vacation for one month during which time he would reflect on his future. In his declaration, the Mayor also expressed frustration that, in his opinion, the Council was focused on personal or district issues and therefore did not have a proper global perspective. Once we have any further news, I will provide an update however I think it is good that the Mayor is taking this time off; a vacation is well deserved.

After his declaration, the Mayor left the meeting and the responsibilities of Mayor were immediately transferred to the alternate Mayor, Jean-Luc Groulx, the Councillor for District 1 in St-Michel. Mr. Groulx has solid Municipal experience so our community is in good hands.

Mr. Groulx then opened the meeting.

The English agenda for the meeting is available on the Municipal website, click here for a copy.

Thanks to the Admin. team for committing to now issue agendas in English.

A French version is also available, click here for a copy.

During the acceptance of the agenda, I submitted a resolution concerning the Église St-Michel to be presented under the agenda item "New Business".

The purpose of the resolution was to make sure that a clear chronological history of the Église St-Michel project would be available on the public record. The previous resolution presented at the January meeting (click here for a copy) was missing any details relating to possible costs and gave the incorrect impression that there was already very clear support for the project from all sectors of the Municipality.

A copy of the resolution presented at the February meeting, with both French and English versions, is available by clicking here. After a discussion, a vote was called and the resolution was defeated. However, the resolution will now be included in the minutes of the meeting and will therefore be available as part of the public record for future reference.

The following will provide an explanation of some of the other agenda items:

5.1

This is a ongoing monthly item where Council receives the detailed listing of expenditures of the month.

5.2

This is a renewal of a financing that is linked to the building of the Fire Stations serving the community. The balance of the loan is renewed every 5 years so the next time this item comes up will be in 2026.

5.4

This item reconfirms that the electoral districts will be left the same as in the previous election.

5.7

The Municipality has received a subsidy in the amount of $20,000 which will be spent on improving the trail network.

5.8

The Municipality formally advises the MRC that it will not participate in the Sports Centre being planned for St. Adele. Costs have risen from $35,000,000 to $43,000,000.

5.9

Final step required for harmonizing the Municipal regulations with other Municipalities so that the Surete de Quebec is able to police the Municipality using standardized regulations.

5.11

On an ongoing basis the Municipality is required by Provincial regulations to verify that their staff salaries are equitable.

5.12

Certain unused assets of the Municipality will be offered for sale. No land will be sold. Eventually a list of assets will be posted for sale.

5.13

Council provides a blanket approval for the year for all the fixed expenses like salaries and other items like leases. Total amount is $4,304,903.

5.14

Authorizing an expense of $30,000 related to the snow clearing contract in Laurel. This is as per a condition in the original bid.

5.15

Resolution submitted to the Provincial Government concerning the next hunting season; requests consideration of safety issues and aspects required to protect the deer population for future generations.

6.2

A new regulation is being put in place regarding alarm systems and it will increase the fines relating to false alarms.

9.2

The formal acceptance of the resolution which among other changes, tightens up the section regarding fines for work completed without a permit.

9.6

Approval of a new construction permit. I voted against the resolution as I felt that due to the location of the property it was important to obtain a lighting plan as permitted under the regulation 2017-501 and as recommended by the CCU. My fellow Councillors appreciated the importance of controlling light pollution and for this reason a strong recommendation was made in the resolution to have very discrete exterior lighting.