Pontiac Council - draft private road bylaw amended
Mo Laidlaw
The monthly meeting of Pontiac municipal council was held on 9 August 2022 at 7:30 pm in the Luskville community centre. At least 25 members of the public attended, several having questions about the private road bylaw. Councillor Caryl McCann was absent; Mario Allen, the Acting director general (ADG) was present.
Public input
Mickael Desaulniers, had an unwelcome surprise last winter when his road, ch de la Butte, wasn’t snowploughed although it had been maintained by the municipality for 30 years, as he reported at the December 2021 meeting. According to the MRC evaluation roll this road now belongs to the Ministry of Transport, but the neighbouring landowner believes it belongs to him. To be sorted out.
Mme Galipeau of ch de la Baie complained about short term rentals (Airbnb) in Baie noire: unknown people are blocking the road, speeding, there are loose dogs, and it’s being advertised as “La plage de Black Bay” online. Mayor Larose mentioned he’d received lots of complaints.
A Quyon resident would like more police presence to breathalyse impaired drivers. The mayor mentioned that the MRC Police are headquartered in Wakefield, far away “across the mountain”.
Stéphane Alary said that in some places it is not safe to emerge from side roads onto rte 148 because of brush hiding the view of traffic.
Draft bylaw 09-22 on maintenance of private roads re-tabled
Mayor Larose is continuing to hold meetings with private road associations to explain the bylaw on maintenance which council hopes to adopt by September, to allow work to be done before the winter. Amendments to 09-22 since last month include removing the mention of “a width of 6 metres” and adding the official forms as annexes. Costs are expected to be similar to the existing costs, about $140,000 per year. Some residents are still confused about private vs tolerance roads. (A private road is like a driveway, the municipality won’t maintain it except under the terms of this bylaw.)
Administration
$13,567 expenses incurred for August were approved.
The ADG and Director of finances are authorized to bid on properties at the auction for non-payment of taxes on 2 December, 2022, up to the amount owed plus costs.
Draft bylaw 11-22 was tabled, concerning internal management of the municipality.
A committee of the mayor and Councillors Dagenais and Lacasse will prepare a new contract for Mario Allen as ADG and Public works director from September 15, for an indeterminate period. (Councillors Allen and Laforest left the table for this motion.)
Fire Department
La Pêche has offered the part time services of its Fire Director, Benoit Chartrand, to the Pontiac Fire Department for 12 months for about $2,000 depending on hours required.
The firefighters’ collective agreement is due to be renegotiated. The mayor, ADG and Human Resources director will sit on this committee, with legal support from RPGL Avocats.
A Health and safety committee consisting of the ADG and/or the Fire director, and fire Captain Evan Prest will ensure the safety of volunteer firefighters.
Recreation and culture
A quote for five municipal signs and posts will be requested from Multi Graphique (which has served the MRC) for the Quyon Community centre, the Town Hall and the Breckenridge community hall. The large population of Breckenridge will be pleased to hear that their small community hall is re-instated. They were informed at the June meeting that their only indoor community gathering place would henceforth be solely for the use of fire station #1, although the well was now working.
The Recreation and community life coordinator is authorized to work with Tourisme Outaouais, on the River Stopover project (Projet d’escale fluviale) which won’t cost the municipality anything but may have economic and tourist benefits.
Public works, Planning
The Public works director is asked to request bids to repair the well at Davis Park, used during the winter to maintain the ice rink.
Draft bylaw 10-22 was tabled to amend bylaw 06-18 on the operation of the Planning committee (CCU).
Mo’s reports are archived at: www.heritagepontiac.ca/Municipality
The municipal website is www.municipalitepontiac.com
