CALEB NICKERSON
CAMPBELL’S BAY Jan. 15, 2020
The first meeting of the MRC Pontiac’s council of mayors for 2020 was quick and relatively uneventful.
Following Warden Jane Toller’s report to council on her . . .
activities for the month, she introduced the room to the MRC’s new communications advisor, Colleen Jones, who started on Jan. 13.
The mayors received a presentation from the group Phare Ouest, about their plans to host a celebration in the summer of 2021 to mark the re-opening of the Félix-Gabriel Marchand Bridge in Mansfield. Dubbed “Festi-Pont”, the event’s organizers sought the council’s support for the event, which would take place over several days and celebrate the history of the bridge and the region.
Council added a resolution of support for the event to the end of the agenda, which passed unanimously.
Speaking after the meeting, Toller said she thought the initiative was a great idea, noting the amount of effort it took to get the provincial government to invest in preserving the structure.
“We need to have some fanfare when it re-opens,” she said.
After a brief in-camera session, the public returned to the council chambers.
A resolution was passed that set the basic remuneration of the warden and mayors for 2020, at $38,885.46 and $4,083.33 respectively.
It was announced that the MRC would be launching a call for candidates for a newly created position of a prevention technician to serve in the public safety department.
The members of the new Agriculture Consultation Committee were announced: Bob Griffin, Rita Payne, David Gillespie, Brent Orr, Brian Drummond and Ana McBride.
Two $500 donations were approved by the council for Rapides des Joachims’ Downtown Life Commitee, and the Municipality of Bryson, for community events they’re hosting.
MRC engineer Kim Lesage announced that the MRC had finally received its approval for $125,000 in funding from the Route Verte Program for upkeep of the PPJ trail. Lesage added that they had spent roughly $143,000 on the trail, and had requested that the grant funding pay for half, as it is meant to match MRC funds.
Litchfield Mayor Colleen Larivière asked that council request that the unused grant funds be transferred to next year, so as not to lose the remaining money they received approval for, something council has done in the past.
Public security coordinator Julien Gagnon presented the council with a resolution to switch local fire department’s radios to a digital frequency. He explained that since the number of new radios required varied from department to department, each municipality would have the option to rent, finance over five years, or purchase the units outright. Gagnon noted the upfront payment was the cheapest option, but said the decision was up to the municipal councils, and provided them with tables laying out the costs.
Fort Coulonge Mayor Gaston Allard requested that an item concerning the special intervention zone (ZIS) which was created by the provincial government to identify areas vulnerable to flooding following the inundation this spring.
Allard was critical of the first draft of the ZIS released earlier in 2019, and said the latest version has many problems as well. He said that residents in Fort Coulonge, who were in the map originally, were removed by the provincial government without the request of the municipality.
“We got in touch with them this week and they said, ‘No, they’re not putting them back in because the minister allows them to take lots out, but they won’t be putting any back in,’” he explained. “It shows that the provincial government has no regard whatsoever for the people that live and got affected by this.”
He noted that homeowners who were taken out of the ZIS, which would entitle them to compensation from the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), currently have files open with the MSP.
Chichester Mayor Donald Gagnon said that he has the opposite problem, with some lots that were never flooded being included in the ZIS, despite the efforts of the municipality.
The meeting closed with Mansfield et Pontefract Mayor Gilles Dionne joining Toller on a regional committee to discuss next steps following the closure of the Fortress Mill in Thurso.
