May 24, 05 Minutes for the Meeting of the Village of Burks Falls

THE VILLAGE OF BURK’S FALLS
COUNCIL MINUTES

The regular meeting of the Burk’s Falls Council was held on Tuesday May 24, 2005. Present were Reeve Ron Russell, Councillors Cathy Still, Bruce Campbell and Councillors Rex Smith and Lewis Hodgson arriving a few minutes late.
Guests at this meeting included the following: Gib Lane & Jill Latendre regarding the forming of a tri-council economic development committee. The Special Events Committee would assist with this committee. They are meeting on Monday May 30, 2005 and have invited a member from each council to attend and set a budget figure for 2005, which would then go to the respective councils.
Mike Zrobin to request a letter from Council giving him permission to sell used cars from his business operating as Mike’s Service Centre.
Sylvia Gethons-Green regarding the Animal Shelter proposals and comparisons as carried over from the April meeting.
Brian Darnbrough for the By-law Enforcement position.
Jesse Kohl, from the Almaguin Forrester; and Len Hall Village foreman.

The following resolutions were passed:

Cathy Still – B. Campbell:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls adopt the minutes of the April 25, 2005 meeting as circulated.

Cathy Still – Rex Smith:
That as per the Municipal Act, S.O. 2001, c.25 as amended, 239(2) Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls enters into a closed meeting at 19:50.

B. Campbell – Lewis Hodgson:
That as per the Municipal Act S.O. 2001, c.25, as amended, p.239(2) Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls exits from a closed meeting @ 8:28 pm.

B. Campbell – Cathy Still:
That we accept Brian Darnbrough’s application for By-Law Enforcement Officer effective June 1, 2005.

Cathy Still – B. Campbell:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls approve the purchase of a 4-6ft model 22685 catch-all dog pole.

Cathy Still – Rex Smith:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls donate $300.00 to the Burk’s Falls Art & Crafts Club. One time only donation.

Rex Smith – Lewis Hodgson:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls accept the landfill budget as presented for 2005 in the amount o $ 121,900.00 with Burk’s Falls share being $36,570.00.

B. Campbell – Cathy Still:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls approves the 2005 Armour Ryerson & Burk’s Falls Arena Budget as presented in the amount of $155,100.00 with Burk’s Falls share being $26,370.00.

And that Council agrees that any surplus be placed into a reserve fund.

Lewis Hodgson – Cathy Still:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls approves the 2005 Burk’s Falls Armour & Ryerson Union Public Library Budget as presented in the amount of $74,229.99 with Burk’s Falls share being $ 16,906.00. With the understanding that any grants received that may be applied to the operations of the Burk’s Falls Armour & Ryerson Union Public Library Budget will reduce the municipal share accordingly.

Rex Smith – Cathy Still:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls accept the recycling budget as presented for 2005 in the amount of $ 15,400.00 with Burk’s Falls share being $ 4,620.00.

Cathy Still – B. Campbell:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read the resolution circulated by the Corporation of Essex expressing concern with the lack of adequate funding to Ontario College;

AND WHEREAS, Ontario Colleges are not funded at the same level as universities or even high schools;

AND WHEREAS with adequate funding Ontario Colleges can address the fact that only one half of Ontario students proceed to postsecondary education;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Government of Ontario be requested to fund Ontario Colleges on a more equitable level, in comparison to funding provided to Ontario universities and secondary schools;

And forward our support to the Corporation of the County of Essex for their presentation.

B. Campbell – Cathy Still:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read the resolution presented by the County of Prince Edward expressing concern with Section 62 of the Ontario Water Resources Act.

And that Section 62 of the Ontario Water Resources act provides that a Director of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) can require a municipality to establish, maintain, operate, improve, extend, enlarge, alter, repair or replace a sewage works where the Director considers it necessary to do so in the public interest through the use of a “Municipal responsibility agreement”; and
WHEREAS in recent years the MOE has used this section on numerous occasions to require a municipality to take over a private communal sewage system; and
WHEREAS a “municipal responsibility agreement” is a legal agreement between the Municipality and the developer that makes the Municipality responsible for the “..conditions under which communal services will be constructed, operated and maintained, as well as, the action to be undertaken by the municipality in the event of default”; and
WHEREAS should MOE deem it necessary for the municipality to take over ownership of the private system the municipality is faced with the prospect of incurring unknown and potentially significant costs to operate and/or remediate a private sewage works, or, perhaps, forcing the closure of a private business in an effort to minimize the financial exposure to the taxpayers;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Minister of the Environment be requested to reconsider the Ministry’s position that “municipal responsibility agreements” be required for private, single-owner sewage works in light of the serious long term consequences for municipalities for financially and strategically; and
That our resolution of support be sent to the County of Prince Edward for their collection and presentation.

B. Campbell – Lewis Hodgson:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read the resolution circulated by the City of North Bay concerning public trails;
And Whereas the City of North Bay has expressed concern with the increasing costs involved in policing and maintaining public trails;
And Whereas various lawsuits have been filed claiming liability against municipalities and other trail owners;
And Whereas the cost of insurance for the use of trail systems has already proven so expensive to be prohibitive for municipalities;
Now Therefore Council supports the need to amend the Occupiers Liability Act so as to clearly establish that those using trail systems are deemed to do so at their own risk, so that owners and volunteer organizations will not be held liable in any way for any damages arising from the use of trails by the public.
And that our resolution of support be sent to the City of North Bay for their collection and presentation.

Lewis Hodgson – B. Campbell:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read the resolution circulated by the Durham Region regarding Slow Moving Farm Vehicle Signage;
And that the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls supports the request to the Province of Ontario to incorporate the Slow Moving Farm Vehicle Signage as a Provincial Standard;
And that we forward our support to Durham Region for their presentation.

Cathy Still – Lewis Hodgson:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read the resolution circulated by the County of Bruce concerning Long Term Care Funding;
Whereas the Council agrees that Provincial funding for long term care is inadequate to meet current and increasing complex care needs of our residents;
And Whereas the Provincial Government election pledge was to boost annual funding by $ 6,000.00 per resident, but to date has only delivered approximately one quarter of the promised funding;
Therefore Be It Resolved that Council supports the call by the Corporation of the County of Bruce to the Provincial Government to allocate the full funding pledge of $ 367 million in 2005-2006 to address the shortfall and support appropriate levels of care to residents of long term care facilities.
And that our support be sent to the Corporation of the County of Bruce for their collection and presentation .

Cathy Still – Rex Smith:
That the Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls appoint the following persons to the Burk’s Falls Recreation Council: Laurie Gionet, Julie Burgess, June Crozier, Charlene Bilz, Shawna Mehaffey.

Rex Smith – Cathy Still:
That we approve the application to conduct a raffle lottery as presented by Land of Lakes Senior Public School provided all regulations are adhered to.

Rex Smith – Cathy Still:
That we accept the Accounts Payable as presented up to and including May 24, 2005 in the amount of $78,910.57 and hereby authorize the Clerk/Treasurer to issue cheques for same.

Lewis Hodgson – B. Campbell
That we do now adjourn at 10:55 pm until the next regular meeting of Council on June 28, 2005.

Jarvis W. Osborne
Clerk/Treasurer