|
|
|
|
Council Report, 16 January 2011 By Sandra Soloman First, thanks to Holly for braving the weather on February 2nd to attend Council. The roads were horrible. Business Arising from Minutes: 1. Discussion on the closure of Concession 1 at Highway 6 South was deferred to a later meeting. It will be impacted by the budget, which is being worked on at the moment. 2. There was a PIC regarding the Laird Road/Hanlon intersection, which both Mayor Dennis Lever and Councillor Susan Fielding attended. The only impact this will have on the Township is truck traffic will need to be detoured while the intersection is closed. Communications: A few items in this category elicited questions and comments. Mini Lakes Residents Association showing 4th quarter monitoring results. Councillor Ken Roth questioned if the fact that some of the numbers exceeded allowable amounts was a concern. These numbers fluctuate according to the season and they were not unusual for that time of year. Meeting Investigator: The Township is required to appoint a meeting investigator (in case a citizen has a concern regarding how a public meeting was conducted, etc.) There are two options and, once more information has been provided, one will be selected. While using the Ombudsman would not cost the township any money, it could be a slower route to take. Councillor Wayne Stokley said his preference would be the Ombudsman, which would not cost the Township any money. Correspondence from Nestle Waters Canada: While this did not pertain to the correspondence, Wayne wanted to inform Council that, at a recent meeting with Nestle, it had been decided to expand the Zone of Influence for wells near the Nestle plant. This would now include the area bounded by County Road 34, Victoria Road, Gilmour Road and County Road 46. Affected residents would be receiving an information letter fairly soon. Nestle would be picking up all costs. Delegations: At the request of Glenn Harrington, the presentation on the proposed Neubauer Pit was deferred to a later meeting. Aberfoyle Agricultural Society: Don McKay and Charlie Tilt, President of the Society, appeared before Council. The Aberfoyle Agricultural Society is the oldest Society in the Township, having been established in 1840. At that time 80% of the residents were involved in agriculture – a lot has changed over the years and this is no longer true. The Society’s goal is to improve awareness of agriculture, home crafts and the farming lifestyle. They do this by being involved in the community through the Fall Fair, 4-H Clubs and the Junior Garden Club. Fund raising events for the Society this year are the Chicken Barbecue on June 9th, the Tractor Pull on September 9th and the 171st Fall Fair on September 10th. Charlie Tilt presented the Township with a plaque recognizing the Township’s support of the Society in the past. Don then asked that the annual grant of $1,500 be awarded to them again this year – and added, with expenses rising, that an increase would be gratefully accepted! All of Council congratulated the Society on their continued involvement in the community, especially the Fall Fair, which always gets rave reviews. Charlie closed by saying that they are hoping to attract young people to join the Society. Reports: The Fire Chief presented his report. He informed Council that there would be a Fire Marshall seminar in Palmerston on April 12th. Council would be receiving an invitation to attend. Both the Badenoch Community Centre Board and the COPs Committee submitted requests for grants ($3,500 and $500, respectively). Susan commented that the COPs Committee is a very economical committee and hardly spent any of its budget last year (the Road Watch grant was a one-time special grant and still had money to cover related upcoming expenses). Accounts for Payment: Council had spent the day working on the budget which might account for Wayne’s nit picking over a few invoices. He felt that Gamsby and Mannerow were “in conflict of interest” because they had attended a workshop, at the Townships request, and they could use the information. He felt that the Township should not be paying for them to attend the workshop. Susan strongly disagreed with him. The Township had requested they attend on the Township’s behalf and the Township had to pay for the service. Dennis explained that the information gleaned would be used in the Township. Wayne was also concerned with the timing of a bill submitted by McElderry and Morris. He felt that as it was for last year it should have been submitted last year. New Business: Susan informed Council that the COPs Committee monthly meeting on February 23rd would be a special meeting. It was supposed to be in the Council Chambers as there is a guest speaker and several other guests attending. However, a Zoning By-law Amendment public meeting has been scheduled for that night and the meeting will now have to take place in the coffee room. The topic of the COPs meeting is Domestic Violence in Puslinch. At a recent COP conference held in Kenilworth, some COPs members were alarmed to find that this is a big problem in the Township and felt that the Committee needed to explore ways to help with it. The meeting, which is open to the public, takes place on February 23rd at 7:00 p.m. sharp. Susan invited all members of Council to attend. A shorter than usual meeting – for which I was grateful! |