Starting in the new year, public council meetings will be taking place on the third Thursday evening of the month, instead of Wednesdays, to allow more time for documentation to be released beforehand.

Otter Lake mayor Jennifer Quaile said she introduced several meeting management suggestions during the council’s first plenary session, including the suggestion to go to Thursday nights. Draft resolutions and other documentation must be made available to the mayors 72 hours in advance of public meetings.

“I want a fresh start, this mandate, and have a better relationship among the mayors and with the public,” she said.

MRC director general Kim Lesage said that previously staff were working on Sunday evenings to get documents out by the 72-hour deadline, and having the full day Monday would make it easier to include all documentation or anything added at the last minute.

“By moving them to Thursday, it gives [staff] till Monday night to figure everything out,” she said.

Quaile said that she would like to see the resolutions made available to the public as well, so they can better understand what council is deciding.

“Make the resolutions publicly available so when the staff prepare the draft resolutions for the meeting, that they share it publicly as well. That would go a long way in terms of openness,” she said.

After the resolution passed unanimously, Pontiac warden Jane Toller acknowledged that the suggestion to move to Thursdays had been Quaile’s and thanked her for the idea.

Potential lease agreement for MRC land in Campbell’s Bay

Council agreed to proceed with drawing up a lease for a company that is looking to set up on land that the MRC owns in Campbell’s Bay off Hwy. 148 behind the police station (Lot 3 545 095), with the option to sell in the future. According to the online property registry, the lot is 36,250 sq. meters, and valued in 2025 at $35,500.

The resolution approves the MRC’s legal counsel to help draw up and review a lease agreement that includes the following details:

– Monthly rent rate (plus tax) to be applied to the purchase price

– A tentative purchase price (subject to appraisal at the time the option is exercised)

– That the purchase option have a deadline by which the company must finalize acquisition and start construction

– To hold public consultations in the municipality that it’s located (Campbell’s Bay)

The agreement would have to come back to council for approval once finalized.

Lot 3 545 095, highlighted, is the parcel of land up for lease from the MRC.

Lesage said that the business had approached the MRC about using the property, which currently sits empty. She emphasized that the project was in the very early stages, and no money had changed hands at this point.

She added that the MRC wanted to ensure the company would actually commit to starting the project and wouldn’t just sit on the land.

“They’ll have the first right to purchase or whatever, but they’ll have to have an actual industry there. We’re not just going to let them buy it and then it just sit there like it’s sitting there now,” she said.

She said she was unsure of how the MRC came to own the property. According to Quebec’s online property registry, the property was purchased by the Corporation de développement économique du Pontiac (CDEP), in April 1993, for $24,500. The property was sold by the CDEP to MRC Pontiac in March 1998 for the price of one dollar.

Waltham mayor Jordan Evans was the sole vote against the resolution.

$31K in renovations approved for TNO garage

At the beginning of the meeting of the non-organized territory of Lac Nilgaut (TNO) on Nov. 26, which is administered by the MRC Pontiac council, there was a resolution concerning work on the garage for TNO equipment, which is located beside the MRC office in Campbell’s Bay.

Eric Pilon Construction had the lowest of two bids and was awarded the contract for the work, which will be divided into two phases.

The first phase includes the insulation of the four walls of the garage, installation of metal interior cladding, at a cost of $16,500 plus applicable taxes.

The second phase is to complete insulation of the garage ceiling and covering the ceiling in sheet metal, at a cost of $15,600 plus tax.

MRC territory director Jason Durand said at the meeting that the phases were conditional on the availability of funds in the TNO budget.

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