Bristol residents with questions and concerns about recent goings-on at the municipality packed its town hall on June 16 to try to get some answers.
Some 80 people squeezed themselves into all corners of the meeting room to hear from council and share opinions on a variety of matters, including the recent termination of Bristol’s longtime director general Christina Peck.
This council meeting was originally set for June 1, but had to be rescheduled because the interim director general hired just six days earlier to replace Peck resigned abruptly.
During the public question period, council received several questions concerning Peck’s termination.
The first came from former Bristol councillor and current Clarendon councillor Phil Holmes, who asked if the municipality had determined a severance amount that would be paid to Peck for her termination. Councillor Nancy Crain said the municipality was not in a position to disclose this information at the time.
Holmes then asked if council would consider seeking outside support from the Fédération Québecois des Municipalités (FMQ) for navigating its current challenges.
“There is obviously some discontent with this municipality, it’s reached other municipalities throughout the Pontiac. Are you willing to reach out to FMQ to ask for some assistance?” Holmes asked.
“You’ve had multiple employees leave on stress leave and you’ve had a very involved and well respected councillor who resigned his position out of protest,” he added, referring to councillor Greg Graham’s resignation in March.
Following the meeting, Twolan-Graham told THE EQUITY that two employees had indeed taken a leave of absence since the November election, but that they were not stress leaves, and that one of the employees has since returned to work.
She said Peck also took a two-month leave of absence immediately following the election, and confirmed that the municipality reached out to the FMQ for assistance at that point.
Next came questions from former Bristol mayor Brent Orr, who lost his seat of four terms to Twolan-Graham by 36 votes in 2025. Orr is now one of three candidates running for the municipality’s vacant council seat in the June 28 byelection, along with Alex Mahon and Christine Rybak.
Orr echoed Holmes’ concerns, asking about the cost to taxpayers for legal fees and severance associated with the former DG’s termination. Crain reiterated that no details could be shared at this time.
Former Bristol councillor Debbie Kilgour also voiced her concern around the decision to terminate Peck, who she said was very good at the job.
When asked, in an interview following the meeting, what she makes of concerns with what appears to be significant upheaval at the municipality, as voiced by Holmes among others, Twolan-Graham said she believes the public concern is caused by change after many years without it.
“I think the concern stems from a municipality that didn’t have much change over 16 to 20 years. Change is difficult for a community. In our community, the change has happened as a result of council believing that we are looking at a management change in terms of searching for a new director general,” she said.
“I believe that that statement misrepresents our current situation. [ . . . ] The only disruption to our staff has been the departure of our director general.”
Twolan-Graham said council has learned how much control rests with the director general.
“In losing this position, you realize how much is actually controlled by the director general, and I believe this is a flaw in the municipal system. [ . . . ] No municipality should ever be in a position of vulnerability with the absence of one employee.”
At last Tuesday’s meeting, council also approved the minutes from its May 4 regular meeting, as well as from two special meetings it has held since then, one on May 26 and another on June 4. Neither of these meetings were advertised to the public. The mayor said there are a few procedural and legal exceptions where a special meeting can occur without the standard, public notice of 24-48 hours.
“The special meeting can be held provided 100 per cent of elected council members are present and agree to the agenda items at that meeting,” she wrote in an email. “Our interim director general oversaw the procedural administration for the special meetings.”
Twolan-Graham confirmed that the May 26 meeting was needed to pass resolutions for the termination of the former director general, and the hiring of the interim director general. This decision was made by vote, with five votes in favour of the termination, including a vote from the mayor, and one vote against. She said prior to this vote, Peck had been on a leave of absence since early May but would not share further details concerning this absence.
Twolan-Graham said the June 4 meeting was called to pass the resolutions needed by the auditor before the regular June 16 meeting.
“The intention, obviously, would be to not have as many special meetings as we’ve had. Those are a prerogative of council to be able to pass emergency measures [ . . . ] such as an auditor asking for approvals for example for the upcoming election, which we hadn’t forecast in a budget, and that had to be passed before we could allocate the money for that.”
She said though the minutes for these meetings have been approved by council, they are not yet publicly available.
Pier concerns and other rumours
Twolan-Graham also used the meeting to address certain rumours she said have been circulating in the community.
Among them is a concern that council, now formed of a larger contingent of Norway Bay residents, will spend too much money on repairing the Norway Bay pier.
Twolan-Graham said contrary to information that may be circulating, the municipality has not taken out a $7,000,000 loan for pier repairs, but that council is hoping to decide on next steps for revitalizing it by August.
Currently, the volunteer pier committee that has been investigating various options is recommending a rock revetment solution. This technique would see large piles of rocks be built up against the sides of a pier, reinforcing its walls. There is no price tag associated with this proposal yet. An alternative, complete demolition, would cost around $1.2 million.
Twolan-Graham said the municipality plans to set aside $250,000 in a reserve fund to be used for applying for grants to fund whatever solution is chosen. Another $250,000 reserve fund has been budgeted for municipal equipment needs.
She said of the approximate $100,000 of investigative work done so far on the pier in the form of engineering and other studies, Bristol’s contribution has been about $20,000.
This year, pier repairs needed to fix damage caused by spring flooding will cost the municipality about $16,000.
“This piece of infrastructure is the oldest piece of remaining infrastructure to repair, and has a legacy of over 100 years as a wharf, so it is important to much of our municipality, not just Norway Bay residents,” she said.
“Our previous council unanimously supported the revitalization of the pier and were aware of the price tags attached to it.”
Addressing other rumors, Twolan-Graham clarified that Bristol is not buying the Astra Estates golf course, and that the municipality has not made a decision to sell the Pontiac Station property to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
She also said that a rumour that money has been stolen from the municipality is not true, but that Bristol has hired a new auditor to replace its auditor of 16 or so years who has resigned, and that an audit is currently underway. The first year of a new auditor will cost more than the $30,000 previously budgeted for this expense.
Twolan-Graham said until Bristol hires a permanent director general, she is filling in as the emergency authorization for the municipality.
“Obviously there are tasks we’re not able to complete, but the authorization of payments, and organizing of work to be done and completed, comes from the mayor at this point.”
The municipality’s next council meeting will be July 8 at 8 p.m., at which point a new councillor will have been elected.
On advance voting day, June 21, 216 of Bristol’s 1,120 registered electors cast their ballots. Election day is June 28.
