By Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN —
Fowl situation still a bother
A recommendation from a staff report that the township budget $22,000 for pest control at Cobden’s beach was not passed by the recreation committee.
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin said the Cobden and District Civitan Club had said money from its ice fishing derby would be used for something to deter the fowl (geese and seagulls) at the beach. He suggested the matter be left alone until the club decides what to do.
He suggested fishing lines may be used to scare off the birds.
CAO Christine FitzSimons said that idea may be good in some areas, but there are small children at the beach who may become entangled in it.
She further noted that once the birds get used to the fishing line, it will no longer be a deterrent.
Something has to be done soon, because once the eggs hatch, which will be soon, the fowl will not leave the area.
Councillor Charline Jackson questioned if the Civitan club would donate money towards another initiative besides the fishing line.
Reeve Terry Millar was “leery wasting $22,000” for pest control with no guarantee that anything would be done.
CAO FitzSimons suggested the pest control company could make a presentation to council so it could see what the company would do.
“They have experience in this area,” she said.
She also noted an instructor and an assistant instructor have been hired for the swim program.
Coun. McLaughlin suggested the CAO send a letter to the Civitan club inviting members to come for the presentation and members may be more receptive to donating the money
Business owner gets no answer
Hayden McLaughlin will have to wait a little longer to see if the Planning Committee will recommend council allow him to operate car lot at his Beachburg business.
The committee discussed the request and there were concerns about the space allotment for the vehicles.
“There’s not much room on this property,” said Coun. Jackson.
Chief Building Official Doug Schultz said council can ask for a site plan.
Mayor Hal Johnson noted there are two lots, where the garage is currently located and the lot where there used to be a house.
When questioned if the county has concerns, Mr. Schultz said he didn’t know.
“I’m not sure if the county was contacted, but I will find out,” he said.
Coun. McLaughlin pointed out there is already one car lot operating off the Beachburg Road, so the county shouldn’t be concerned.
As for notifying neighbours of the possible car lot, Mr. Schultz said because there is no zoning bylaw in Beachburg, it is a permitted use.
However, until a site plan is received and the questions answered, the request was tabled by the committee.
Update from OCWA
Brad Sweet presented the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) reports to the Environmental Services Committee. These are the annual reports on the three drinking water plants/systems in Cobden, Beachburg and Haley Station and the wastewater plant in Cobden.
All of the reports, were provided to committee members along with the Operation Plan and annual statement of costs. There were about 230 pages for council to review.
Mr. Sweet and environmental services manager Steve Hodson reviewed the reports with the committee, addressing any concerns and answering questions.
Hiring staff for the landfill
Mr. Hodson may soon be spending more time on paperwork, which is what is necessary, than working at the landfill site.
He provided the committee with a report on days of operation and staffing at the landfill.
He suggested the site be closed to all garbage intake on Mondays, which would mean the current operator would go back to a schedule of Tuesday through Saturday.
Beaumen’s Waste, which picks up garbage in the township, advised that would be OK.
If a part-time person is hired, the salary would be $22,000 a year with no benefits. If full-time person is hired, the pay would be $36,000 a year plus benefits, which would work out to about $45,000 in total.
The concern Mr. Hodson had with hiring a full-time employee, is finding work for him or her to do in the middle of winter.
Coun. Jackson suggested that is when employees can take holidays and this person could fill in.
Mayor Johnson said most businesses hire full-time employees and if necessary, lay them off in the winter, and then bring them back in the spring.
“That’s not a problem,” he said.
Mr. Hodson also agreed with this, however, he said a part-time person would be best.
“I would prefer to see the person start as part-time and see how that works,” he said. “My fear is the winter. We are ridiculously busy right now, but in winter it’s possible there will be no work.”
Coun. Jackson said it would be better if a full-time seasonal person were hired and see how that works for the first year. If the person has to be laid off in the winter, he or she could remain on-call.
Mayor Johnson agreed.
“I agree with Councillor Jackson,” he said, adding, “We need our managers to be managers, we don’t need them in the field.”
The committee is recommending council include in this year’s budget a full-time seasonal landfill operator, which will allow Mr. Hodson to be in the field only when necessary.
Update on Wren Subdivision
Matt Naismith and Mark Enright from BEI (Bonnechere Excavating Inc.), along with Terry O’Brien and Tim Chadder, from the engineering firm JL Richards, spoke at the Economic Development committee meeting about Wren Subdivision in Cobden and moving forward with more construction.
Mr. O’Brien reviewed a chronological line of events that has occurred at the subdivision, since 1988, when Phase 1 began and 10 lots were developed. There were 84 lots left undeveloped.
In 2013, BEI purchased the undeveloped lots, which totalled 73, because land had been sold where Caressant Care Retirement Home is now situated.
Phase 2 of the subdivision plan is to construct 27 lots, however, before that can begin, the drainage problems with the current 10 homes needs to be resolved, he said.
There have been meetings with council, staff , BEI and JL Richards regarding this development, as it relates to the drainage problems.
Council was provided with a report about the development and how it will occur over the next few years.
Mr. Chadder said while the project is moving along, approval from the Ministry of Environment is required, and that could take six to nine months.
To ensure the project continues to move forward, Mr. Chadder suggested approvals from the township and county will also be required on various construction projects that will need to happen at the site.
He suggested the necessary township staff be involved with the various stages so the work won’t have to be redone if it’s not up to the necessary standards when fully completed.
Mr. Naismith said if all goes according to plan, construction of Phase 2 could occur in July 2016.
Mr. Chadder said technical details and statistics are still required for the Truelove pumping station, but there is difficulty getting them.
“It’s always a challenge to find who has the right information and who should get it,” he said. “We need help figuring this all out. Our team is prepared to do what we can
“We are struggling to get information which is delaying some work.”
Council and staff need to figure out what’s going on with its system, so that corrective action can be taken if required, he said.
He noted that currently, storm water is going through the wastewater treatment plant, which it shouldn’t be.
Mr. O’Brien said he spoke with staff at OCWA regarding the information on the Truelove Pumping Station, and even the Certificate of Approval can’t be located.
Steve Webster, who is the township’s engineer peer reviewer to ensure all is going the way it should, said where that document is no one seems to know right now. He noted certain information only has to be kept for a certain number of years.
Councillor Chris Olmstead, said there’s “a good spirit of co-operation” and everyone “wants to move forward on this project.”
As for the storm water going into the wastewater treatment plants, he suggested it might be necessary to go door to door on Morrison Drive explaining to the property owners the importance of keeping storm water out of the treatment plant.
“That is important to the future development of Cobden,” he said.
Everyone agreed that working together is important and Mayor Johnson said council and staff will provide what they can so “we can keep the chain working.”
Who’s going to decorate the float?
The committee turned down a recommendation that staff be paid to prepare to take care of the municipal parade float, including preparing it for parades.
Councillor Daryl McLaughlin said if staff members are going to prepare the float, and be paid to do this job, then there will be a loss of productivity in the office.
“I’m not in favour of this at all,” he said. “We’ve never done it in past practice and I don’t think there’s any need to do it.”
Coun. Jackson noted she would prefer to see staff get time off in lieu, not extra pay if they were to prepare the float for a parade.
She would like a review of staff policy regarding time off and in lieu of regarding overtime.
However, she is in favour of purchasing a municipal banner that can have the wording changed on it. The cost is $350 and the committee is recommending two be purchased at that price.
As for the parade float, CAO FitzSimons said it’s not something any staff member wants to do.
“”Since I’ve been here for the last two-and-a-half years, every time there’s a float issue, we don’t have enough council people, and we end up having staff volunteers, myself included, on a Saturday decorating the float because no one else will do it.”
If council members want to take care of the float, that’s great, however, that’s not happening and that’s why she prepared a report with the recommendation that staff be paid, she explained.
Councillor Dave Mackay said put a banner on it and when the float is required it can be “dragged into the parade, dragged home, nobody on it, Whitewater blah blah blah and that’s it.”
Instead of decorating it for each parade, just make it simple and use the same float over and over, he said.
Coun. McLaughlin said, “If nobody wants to do it, maybe we shouldn’t bother with it.
“I agree with what the CAO says,” he added. “I would be in more favour, if nobody wants to do it, to leave it, put it way and be done with it.”
Mayor Johnson said there is time before July 1.
“If we can trick a couple of councillors into getting it ready, the parade’s in Foresters Falls and the float is in Foresters Falls.
“If nobody’s interested, we can all walk down the street,” he added.
Mayor Johnson said instead of going on the float, council members can walk the parade float with the banner.
Coun. Jackson said the biggest thing, for her at least, is not knowing where the float is and where to put it after the parade.
If a township truck is needed, and a staff member drives it, he or she must be compensated, she said.
“If we don’t have a float, I’ll just ride my motorcycle in the parade,” Coun. Jackson added.
The committee is recommending the purchase of two double-sided banners at a cost of $350 each while the recommendation of paying staff or giving them time off in lieu of preparing a float, was not passed.
