THE VILLAGE OF BURK’S FALLS
COUNCIL MINUTES

A special meeting of the Burk’s Falls Council was called to order at 6:30 P.M.  on Tuesday, December 17, 2002 by Reeve Joe Van Gaal, Councilors Alex Millar and Cathy Still were also present.  The purpose of the meeting was to appoint someone to fill the vacant Council seat.

The procedure for filling Vacancies on Council pursuant the Municipal Act R.S.O. 1990 as amended Chapter M45 was followed.

The following resolutions  were passed:
 

Alex Millar - Cathy Still
That Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls accepted the nomination of Bruce Campbell for the vacant seat on said Council.  There were are no other nominations so nominations were closed. 

Alex Millar - Cathy Still
That we appoint Bruce Campbell to fill the vacant Councilors position effective December 17, 2002 for the balance of the term of the existing council. 

Cathy Still - Alex Millar
That we adjourn the special meeting of Council at 6:40 P.M. 

P.S.  Mr. Campbell then took the declaration of elected office and the affirmation of allegiance before the regular meeting started.

The regular meeting of the Burk’s Falls Council was held on Tuesday December 17, 2002 at 7:00 P.M.. Present were Reeve Joe Van Gaal, Councilors Cathy Still, Alex Millar, newly appointed Bruce Campbell and Rex Smith arrived at 8:35 P.M. as he had called to inform Council he would be late.

None of the delegations showed up for the meeting.

Len Hall, Village Foreman, reported on the water works, street lights and the lights at the Welcome Centre and Pedestrian Bridge.

A survey will be placed in the water and sewer bill asking the residents if they are in favour of amalgamation or not and to please return it when paying their bill.

The following resolutions were passed:

Cathy Still - Alex Millar
That we adopt the Minutes of the November 26, 2002 meeting as circulated. 

Alex Millar - Bruce Campbell
That the Burk’s Falls Winterfest Committee is considered a committee of Council. 

Bruce Campbell - Cathy Still
That Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls intends to use the Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) allocation to offset taxes in the  year 2003.
And further more, Council accepts the terms and conditions as set out by the Ministry of Finance. 

Cathy Still - Alex Millar
That we approve the Lottery applications as presented by the Royal Canadian Legion Br. 405 to conduct a raffle lottery provided all regulations are adhered to. 

Alex Millar - Cathy Still
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls wishes to apply for funding under the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation Capital Assistance to enhance Drinking Water Protection.  And that we authorize the Clerk to file an application.

Alex Millar - Rex Smith
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls recommends increasing the Almagamation Steering Committee representatives to two members from each Council.

Cathy Still - Alex Millar:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls authorize the $ 50,000.00 expense set up in the 2002 Budget be transferred to an unexpended capital account to be spent in 2003 for the Armour Ryerson & Burk’s Falls Landfill Site. 

Cathy Still - Alex Millar:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls put Burk’s Falls portion of the expected $10,000.00 Fire Department 2002 Budget Surplus in the amount of $ 3,000.00 into a reserve fund for future use.

Cathy Still - Bruce Campbell:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls supports the Resolution from the Fire Board dated November 27, 2002 stating that any surplus in the 2002 Budget over $ 10,000.00 shall be spent on capital purchases for 2002.

Alex Millar - Bruce Campbell:
Whereas Provincial Offences Act Court services has been downloaded to municipalities as legislated by the Province of Ontario; and

Whereas the new Provincial Offences offices are expected to operate these services at an effective and efficient manner within the MOU between partners and the Province; and

Whereas the operations of the POA offices are required to pay for the services of the Justice of the Peace; and

Whereas the Province is responsible for the appointment of Justices of the Peace;

Now therefore the Corporation of the Village of Burk’s Falls request the Province of Ontario to review its Justice of the Peace appointment and ensure that an adequate number are made available to the POA offices; and

That this Resolution be sent to the Attorney General for Ontario and the Honourable Norm Miller.

Alex Millar - Cathy Still:
Whereas the Clerk of the POA Court does not have the authority to adjourn Court in the absence of a Justice of the Peace as is the case in Criminal Court and;

Whereas there has been occasions where the Justice of the Peace cannot attend Court due to illness or unavailability which results in loss of fines or additional costs to the Court operations; and

Whereas the Parry Sound POA Court operated by a Partnership between municipalities in the District of Parry Sound will incur additional costs or lost revenues as a result of not having the authority to adjourn Court;

Now Therefore the Municipality of the Village of Burk’s Falls requests that Legislation be changed to authorize the Clerk of the POA Court to sit as a Judicial Officer for the purpose of granting adjournments; and further

That the Province reimburse the Parry Sound POA Court the amount of $ 10,574.00 plus any additional costs that may result from the cancellation of Court.

Alex Millar - Bruce Campbell:
Whereas the property tax is a vital part of the municipal funding and all municipalities and ratepayers depend on accurate assessments;

And whereas the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) has ignored the wishes of over 100 municipalities and is implementing a corporate restructuring program called “Futures” that is dramatically changing property assessment in this Province;

And whereas MPAC has already cut its front line staff from over 2,100 to 1,350 and will further reduce them to 1,100 once Futures is fully implemented with job losses in every region of Ontario;

And whereas this has shattered workplace morale and disrupted families;

And whereas municipalities are already noticing a loss of local expertise and a decrease in service quality as a result of this centralization plan

And whereas Futures is reducing the number of people who collect hard data on property values by 75 per cent and replacing hard data with a computer program.

And whereas MPAC assessors have been ordered not to speak directly with municipal officials;

And whereas MPAC is now required to reassess every Ontario Property annually instead of every four years

And whereas a plan to do four times the work  with just over half the people will not work;

Therefore be it resolved that the Village of Burk’s Falls hereby calls on the Ontario Minister of Finance to intervene to repair the damage Futures has done to Ontario Property Assessment and to bring forward a plan to restore local assessment expertise and good working relationships between assessment staff and municipalities at the local level.

Alex Millar - Bruce Campbell:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls supports the City of North Bay Resolution No. 2002-616 (Attached).

Cathy Still - Alex Millar:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read and approve By-Law No. 13-2002 being a by-law to confirm the proceedings of Council from July 2001 to November 2002;

And hereby authorizes the Reeve and the Clerk to sign this by-law and affix the seal of the Corporation thereto.

Alex Millar - Cathy Still:
That we accept the Accounts Payable as presented up to and including December 17, 2002 in the amount of $ 146,497.85 and hereby authorize the Clerk/Treasurer to issue cheques for same.

Rex Smith - Bruce Campbell:
That we do now adjourn at 9:40 p.m. until the next scheduled meeting of Council on January 28, 2003.

The above minutes have not been adopted by Council

Jarvis W. Osborne
Clerk/Treasurer