by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
Master students could be hired for the summer
Whitewater Region township may be hiring master students for the summer to help with its Community Improvement Plan (CID) project with funding from the Rural Economic Development program.
The township previously received funding to help pay for the entrepreneurship development co-ordinator who managed an outreach pilot program connecting entrepreneurs and businesses in the region, said Chief Administrative Officer Robert Tremblay at the Feb. 15 economic development committee.
The Rural Economic Development (RED) program is designed to help municipalities attract investments, jobs and economic growth, he said.
The CIP will meet four program outcomes: evidence-based planning; collaboration for economic growth; competitiveness and diversity and innovative communities, he explained.
The program would provide up to 50 percent of project costs up to $100,000, CAO Tremblay noted.
The project includes the hiring of two master summer students to assist with the first phase of the CIP and development of the economic development plan, he said. In addition, an expert consultant will be required to complete the necessary documents to finalize the CIP.
A community improvement approach is a flexible, comprehensive, co-ordinated and strategic framework for dealing with lands and buildings, which can address many physical, social, economic or environmental matters, CAO Tremblay noted.
If the municipality is not successful in receiving funds, it will not proceed with the final study phase at this time, he said.
“Community improvement planning is very important work,” CAO Tremblay said, adding, “It’s our best chance.”
Fire Master Plan
The township’s Fire Master Plan has to be updated, and to ensure council is aware of what was in the previous plan, it was included in the council package as well as online for residents to peruse, CAO Tremblay said. He further noted that council members also received the station review which was completed in 2005.
A master plan is a strategic blueprint for fire protection that addresses all local needs and circumstances based upon costs the community can afford, he said.
“Residents are entitled to the most effective, efficient and safe fire services possible,” CAO Tremblay said. “The previous report did not make specific recommendations but did identify a number of issues that require review and I’ll be following up with our fire leadership to see where we are with some of those items.”
The plan will look at all three lines of defence, so this review is not just about stations, but about fire services in their totality, including public education and prevention, which includes inspections; fire safety and enforcement, he explained.
Since a previous document is available, the review should be accomplished within a price range of around $30,000, CAO Tremblay said.
“That is the range of the costs for this type of work,” he said. “It will be a 10-year strategic plan that can be reviewed after five years and gives us a series of recommendations that council can consider in the future.”
There will be consultations throughout the process with fire services personnel, council and the public, he said.
“The goal would be to issue it so that we have a full blown master plan with recommendations before the next budget process,” CAO Tremblay said.
Pitch in week
This will be the third year Whitewater Region has officially participated in Pitch-In Week, noted Steve Hodson, environmental services manager with the township.
This year, the event is April 22 to 29.
“The program is to help empower people to get out and do some ditch clean-up or public areas clean up,” Mr. Hodson said. “A lot of people already do this activity every spring without the program, this provides just a little more advertising and it helps.”
In a report to council, he noted that Pitch-In Week bags are available at the municipal office in Cobden and that residents who choose to participate can drop off their filled Pitch-In Week bags at the Ross Landfill site for free during regular business hours.
Renfrew County writes to Minister of Environment regarding Muskrat Lake water quality
Renfrew County Warden Jennifer Murphy sent a letter to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change following a presentation by Muskrat Lake property owner Donald Deer to the county’s Development and Property Committee to request the county provide $94,000 in funding to complete a study to outline a remediation plan required to restore the water quality of Muskrat Lake to acceptable levels.
While the water quality is of concern, the committee advised Mr. Deer that this issue falls within the mandate of several provincial and federal ministries and agencies.
In her letter, Warden Murphy wrote, “…The County believes it is essential that your ministry provide funding and collaborate with the other ministries and agencies responsible for water quality to undertake the studies required to confirm the nature and extent of the issues and to identify, develop and fund the remediation measures necessary to improve the water quality in Muskrat Lake to acceptable levels.”
CAO Tremblay noted this letter is advising the Ontario government that this problem is beyond Whitewater Region’s ability to fund the studies and remediations.
However, Councillor Charlene Jackson wants it known that Mr. Deer “acted on his own behalf at county and not part of the Muskrat Watershed Council.”
With this presentation, as well as others not done by the Muskrat Watershed Council, the issue is once again confusing the upper tier governments, because they don’t know who to respond to, she said.
“We still have more than one organization that is confusing the issue again,” she stated.
Mayor Hal Johnson agreed.
“That is quite true,” he said. “We need to go back to focus on the entity that is carrying out the correspondence with upper level governments. I’ve had correspondence with upper level governments and they want to know who is doing the studies, who’s doing whatever, and I have to write them a letter to assure them the vast studies and the concrete evidence of what needs to take place has all come from the Muskrat Watershed Council and that is the entity this council is backing and that was done by motion in 2015.”
Mayor Johnson stated, “We will continue to go that route because we’re getting more accomplished doing that.”
One resolution supported, another tabled until it’s reviewed
CAO Tremblay said he brings forth the most pertinent resolutions for this council to support from other municipalities.
At this meeting, he brought forward two resolutions for support – one is there is no infrastructure funding for fire departments and that should be corrected and the second was regarding proposed changes to the Ontario Building Code, namely forcing homeowners to do septic system pump-outs every three years and to keep records, along with the municipality keeping records.
Coun. Jackson said she hesitated to support the second resolution because there are more proposed changes to the code than just the pumping of septic systems.
“There are specific changes that I don’t like that we were made aware of from the mayor of Head Clara and Maria; but there are a number of other changes that are probably positive as well,” she said. “So, to just rescind the whole proposed changes, I don’t know that I’m prepared to do that.”
Councillor Chris Olmstead has several concerns regarding the froms and tos.
“ I don’t understand the whole presentation,” he said. “No doubt it’s something the government is forcing on rural regions.”
He questioned if pumping septic systems was mandatory before and putting onus on the home owner regarding records collection.
“I don’t understand what we are going from, and that’s the piece I’d like to understand.”
Mayor Johnson said there was never mandatory pumping before and it will be onerous for municipalities to keep records.
“It will be quite labourous and we will almost have to hire another position,” he said. “In that alone, I don’t feel the municipality has a right to tell people when to pump septic system. If it goes bad, our rules are they have to replace it.”
Coun. Jackson said the consultation period for comments regarding the proposed changes closed in mid-December 2016. She suggested the changes that affect Whitewater Region be reviewed before council supports the resolution to rescind the proposed changes.
Mayor Johnson agreed with Coun. Jackson that the proposed changes be reviewed and council only support what it feels are the right changes to support.
“We can’t rescind the whole thing until we are sure,” he said.
When the proposed changes have been reviewed, a report will be brought back to council.
