Meetings held May 21 and June 4, 2024
Meeting held in Lavigne
Held at the Lavigne Community Centre, the May 21 municipal council meeting was the first with new councillor Georges Pharand, Ward 8, in attendance. Approximately 25 local residents attended the meeting, which was followed by an open floor for questions.
Looking at council progress
Council spent some time going over a progress report on the Term Plan established at the beginning of council’s 4-year term, outlining their priorities. CAO Jay Barbeau noted that the Public Works, Wastewater and Environmental Services upgrades and maintenance work were on track and within budget, despite a dramatic rise in construction costs post-COVID. He noted that having the budget completed in late fall instead of early spring helped them achieve this result. “That helps us to get our projects developed and underway; we have more bidders that are going to compete more favorably.” He also mentioned that bylaw officers are extremely busy with enforcement. In regard to concerns around homelessness, an extreme heat and extreme cold policy has been implemented. He also noted the Term Plan provides staff a framework from which to work.
Barbeau also mentioned progress at the former Weyerhaeuser mill site, with the Phase One Environmental study almost complete, analyzing what went on that site for the last 100 years. “Phase one is a paper exercise where they would look at historical facts as to what was used in the plant, what chemicals would have been used in the plant.” This will lead to Phase Two Environmental. “This is basically taking samples (…) of the earth to make sure that there are no leaks. We’re quite sure there’s no leachate or anything bad (…), regardless, that has to be done by law.”
Coun. Fern Pellerin wanted to know about the plan to pipe water from Cache Bay to Verner. Mayor Thorne Rochon said that the town had a delegation with the Ministry of Infrastructure at the Good Roads Conference in May, with Director of Infrastructure Elizabeth Henning and engineer Alan Korrell in attendance. “When speaking to the ministry, they indicated that a lot of the funding streams that are available right now are available for refurbishment of water treatment plants, and quite frankly, the plant in Verner is not the issue (…) It lies within the source water itself and that the Veuve is not a particularly clean or reliable source of water, one, because of the agricultural runoff and two, because of the high manganese, which is very hard to treat as far as the colour and the indication. Quite honestly, the reception we had from them was not promising.” She noted the price tag, originally estimated at $8M, will have increased significantly, and the cost of Water and Sewer is borne by the users through water bills as it cannot be included in the general tax levy. “So until we can find some kind of funding, either through federal or provincial governments, that will help us, it’s very difficult to move forward with the project because the price is so high.”
Pellerin said he will bring it back to council as he’s receiving calls again about the brown water in Verner. He also told council that most people no longer call for service as they feel it’s pointless. “They are tired of complaining.”
Coun. Kaitlyn Nicol wanted to know about the school and gas station in Field, and whether the owner was liable to secure those buildings, and if so, how could it be enforced. Barbeau said it was an active file, and Fire Chief Frank Loeffen said Emergency Services was addressing the situation. Nicol also wanted to know why it was removed from the priority list. Director of Corporate Services Alisa Craddock indicated that neither property was owned by the municipality so there weren’t any actions to be taken immediately, and consequently the Economic Development Committee took both sites off the priority list.
Coun. Jamie Restoule commented that he was grateful for the Term Plan as a working document. Mayor Rochon responded that there will be a council review in June to work on the plan.
AMO delegations
The 2024 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference is scheduled from August 18 to 21, in Ottawa. Several delegations were discussed, one to request funding for the Au Château development of 40 geared-to-income units. Coun. Restoule noted that only one housing project was funded this past year in northern Ontario (Thunder Bay), all other projects were in the south. He recommended keeping the advocacy active. He also suggested to push the matter of the Champlain bridge repairs and keep on asking about the Verner water project.
Barbeau suggested asking other municipalities for lobbying support in regard to the Champlain bridge, as it is key to northern economies. “It’s getting to a point now where it’s got to get done and it’s an important Trans Canada highway. If it starts to fail (…) ,what is Northern Ontario going to do?”
Mayor Rochon spoke about the forestry sector, the closing of the mill in Espanola, and recently Domtar in Temiscamingue which stopped processing woodchips and wood waste from area mills. “So that has left our local primary mill operators such as Goulard Lumber in West Nipissing as well as the Lahaie’s and Chartrand and French River without any close local market for their wood chip waste product.” She suggested a joint delegation with French River, and reaching out to other northern municipalities. “Right now for chips, the closest is either Kapuskasing or Renfrew, which is quite a long way to go.” Council approved the recommended delegations for Transportation, Housing and Forestry.
VAC Truck Rental
Director of Infrastructure Elizabeth Henning presented a case for leasing a combination sweeper/vac truck rather than buying, as such a truck would cost $550K, and leases for $14,500/month from April to September. She noted that maintenance of a purchased truck would be prohibitive, while leasing and operating by municipal staff would save on contract fees. “You could be paying just for what we’re using and, as we’ve seen in the past few years, maintenance costs have absolutely skyrocketed.” The suggestion to go with a lease was approved by council.
Pay-per-use dumping station
The RV dumping station is to be located behind the Comfort Inn, on Bridge Street adjacent to the Municipal Public Works yard. The relocation will allow for the installation of a pay-per-use system. Public Works is preparing the site, expected to be complete in 2025. “Crews are going to be working this summer to make sure that the water and sewer is prepared and ready to build that site,” said Henning. “Next year we can hit the ground ready to set up that unit.” Coun. Pharand wantd to know what the consumer would have to pay. Henning said the user will only be paying for water, but the cost of dumping sewage will by embedded in the cost of filling water, and the price has yet to be determined. “It would be something similar to buying gas (…), a cost per litre (…) Currently at Coursol, the water that’s there, it’s not potable. (…) We have the potable water line turned off. The line that’s there, that’s for cleaning out, so they’re flushing.” There is signage indicating this, but Henning expressed the hope that no one was filing up their drinking water at the site.
Pharand’s Committee Assignments
New Coun. Georges Pharand was assigned to committees for the remainder of the term to 2026. He will sit on the Economic Development Committee, the Au Château Board, the Not-for-profit Housing Board, and the Doctor Recruitment committee. It was also noted that he will sit as the municipal representative on the Centre communautaire de Lavigne board.
Mayor brings Champlain bridge concern to FONOM
Mayor Thorne Rochon attended the FONOM (Federation of Northeastern Ontario Municipalities) conference from May 6th to 8th in Sudbury, with councillors Fern Pellerin and Anne Tessier. “I did have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with both the Minister of Long-Term Care and the Associate Minister of Transportation in regards to issues that are at the forefront for West Nipissing,” she said. “In regard to the Champlain bridge project, I thought it was really important to point out, when we had a couple of hundred people in the room from across northeastern Ontario, that the issue of the replacement of the Champlain bridge is now ear-marked at around $26 to $30 million (…) According to the books, we’re on the hook (…). This is really an issue for all of Northeastern Ontario. It affects commercial traffic from Mattawa, Powassan to Espanola, Manitoulin, and I really wanted to take the opportunity to put it on other people’s radars that if we are forced to load restrict the bridge and stop commercial traffic from crossing, it is not West Nipissing that will be suffering here, because we have the John Street Bridge for our local traffic to get across (…). We keep hammering home the message that [the province] needs to step up on this particular issue.”
Questions from the floor
Before ending the meeting in Lavigne, Mayor and council invited residents to ask questions. One local resident was upset with time it was taking to repair Eugene Road and the bridge. “I was just wondering what’s happening with Eugene? (…) The chip and tar was taken three years ago and it’s still not paved. When do you plan on paving it?” Henning explained that the chip and tar was removed because it was in bad condition and it won’t be replaced before the construction of the bridge, which will happen this summer. She indicated that paving before completion of the bridge would cause damage to the fresh paving. The resident was not satisfied with the answer and was very critical of the process, stating it was taking too long and vehicles were being damaged. “It’s not just my frustration, I hear from all the residents.” She was advised that if the bridge is completed early enough, there might be a window for paving in the autumn.
Another resident questioned the reason for putting in a bridge rather than a large culvert. Henning advised that a culvert of that size would be more costly than the bridge. The man provided historical information on the site that Henning was unaware of and suggested that it would be more costly to divert the water while a bridge was being constructed. Henning said there would be no water diversion, as the bridge abutments would be on dry land. “That’s actually part of why we were going with this option is the dewatering was extremely expensive and there was even more dewatering needed for a culvert than there was for a bridge.” There was a flooding diversion pipe at the location which was removed a few years ago. Henning said she would examine the site for where the diversion pipe once was.
Another citizen requested that the road circling the parkette at the municipal dock be blocked for traffic as it was dangerous for children when vehicles launching boats drove through the site. “There’s a little park up there and we’re getting vehicle traffic around where the park is (…) I’m concerned with the kids that are swimming there and playing (…) There should be barriers there so vehicles don’t go through. Some people launch their boats, and they go around (…) They should be going back to the highway. (…) I’m looking for a couple of barriers. I don’t care if it’s two big rocks.” CAO Barbeau said he would respond to the request, “But we want to do it right because it’s such a pretty area that you guys have created. And so if there’s some safety areas, we’ll have a look from a traffic perspective (…) Then we’ll go see what we can do.”
Another resident rose to tell council that they were very pleased with the condition of their road and the town’s response to complaints. “A phone call and you guys are there!”
Barbeau responded to a question concerning the use of drones over private property. “Some people know or don’t know the municipality had some bylaw enforcement people that had a personal drone and thought that they could use it (…) to go into the bush finding encampments and that kind of thing.” He said the drone was used one time and when it was discovered, the activity ceased immediately. Barbeau said it was a simple case of misinformation. “When you’re reading in some of these blogs they are absolutely not right.” He related that he heard a rumour that “the mayor directed me to direct people to use drones. That doesn’t work that way. The mayor cannot direct me. The mayor works with eight other councillors and if they have a vote of five, that’s how I’m directed (…) I never condone the use of something that needs to be passed legally in a certain manner.” He clarified that the use of the drone was done by an individual in good faith, it was a simple error, “and as soon as he was told, he stopped. (…) In instances where Public Works are dealing with all of these long roads that have beaver dams (…) there might be a use for new technology that protects the health and safety of our workers and eliminates a lot of time if done right, but it has to be done with very strict guidelines (…) The individuals who made the mistake, we’ve spoken to them, and it wasn’t even worthy of more than that.”
Former Ward 8 councillor Jérôme Courchesne announced there will be an official grand opening of the Parc la Visitation. “We are expecting the last few pieces of equipment this week, the big giant slide and a bench and so on. I know I’m speaking for the CCL here, but we appreciate the municipality’s partnership throughout that project. (…) It’s been ongoing for many, many years.” He said a contractor has been retained for the pavilion, and fencing will also be required. “We are preparing for a grand opening, nothing is set in stone, but we are looking at June 30th. A few of the contractors are saying it’s going to be tight, but we’re at a point where we want to celebrate with the community the important milestone.”
Meeting June 4, 2024
Tax arrears policy
A draft policy was presented by Director of Corporate Affairs Alisa Craddock, to establish collection procedures on unpaid taxes. Coun. Daniel Gagné wanted to know if all the administration work in collecting arrears is charged back to the taxpayer, and was told that only happens during a tax sale. Barbeau advised that overdue taxes are rated at 1.25% interest per month, which goes into the tax bill. “We collect a substantial amount of interest from those who are in arrears. It is to your advantage to be on time.” Craddock advised that once the registration for tax sale proceeds, “At that time we do add those fees back to that account. So if you let it go as far as that, registering your property, we’re going add a whole lot of cost to your account.” It was made clear that the town can not legally attach an administration fee to late taxes. Mayor Thorne Rochon asked if the interest rate could be increased instead. She was advised that the 1.25% is the maximum allowable. The policy proposed will come forward for approval at the next meeting.
