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THE VILLAGE OF BURK’S FALLS
COUNCIL MINUTES
The last regular meeting of 2009 for the Burk’s Falls
Council was held on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
All members of Council were present. There were no pecuniary or conflict
of interests declared. No delegations were present at this meeting.
Len Hall, Village Foreman, gave his report. The new air compressor was
stolen from the Public Works building; the crosswalks will be marked and
ready for January 4, 2010; and we have already had a couple of frozen
water lines.
The following resolutions were passed:
2009-197
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls adopt the minutes of the
November 24, 2009 meeting as circulated.
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2009-198
Rex Smith-Lewis Hodgson
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls accept the accounts payable
up to including December 22, 2009 in the amount of $ 245,385.91 and
hereby authorize the Clerk/Treasurer to issue cheques for same.
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2009-199
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls approve the driveway
entrance permit as presented by Liz Trolove for the property at 118
Queen Street .
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2009-200
Ron Russell-Lewis Hodgson
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls agree to contribute one
third of the approximate cost of $200.00 for gifts for retiring Fire
Chief Paul Hunter and retiring Burk’s Falls and District Fire Department
Safety Officer Linda Daniels.
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2009-201
Ron Russell-Lewis Hodgson
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls support the terms regarding
the Fire Chief position, as outlined in the Fire Board resolution dated
November 25, 2009.
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2009-202
Rex Smith-Ron Russell
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls approve an increase of 3% in
wages for the Chief Building Official-Brian Dumas for the year 2010.
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2009-203
Lewis Hodgson-Ron Russell
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls endorse the attached
resolution of the Town of Fort Erie dated May 25, 2009, with respect to
amendment of the Ombudsman Act to authorize the Ombudsman to investigate
public complaints about hospitals.
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2009-204
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
WHEREAS the Ministry of Education had previously committed to the
construction of a new 946,000 square foot Almaguin Highlands Secondary
School and committed to funding it as long as the school design was
reasonable. (This included a hallway configuration to allow enough room
for an indoor track, a gymnasium and science classrooms with direct
access to the outdoors and a Ground Source Heating System);
WHEREAS the cost of construction of a school in our environment has been
estimated by engineers to be $250.00 per square foot, which results in
an approximate cost of $23,650,000;
WHEREAS the Ministry of Education now says the maximum allowable
expenditure is $20,800,000;
WHEREAS the fifteen communities whose youth attend the school have
helped sponsor a Feasibility Study into add-ons to the facility to
enhance our children’s education in a 2,500 square kilometer area, with
no public transportation, no gathering places for the students outside
of the school and limited or no access to amenities those in urban areas
take for granted such as museums, swimming pools, theatres, shopping
malls and live entertainment facilities. This has resulted in the
establishment of a public committee, ACCESS 2011, dedicated to funding
extra facilities for our youth, and the community at large, at the
school;
WHEREAS the Ministry of Education has unilaterally:
1. Cut 3,000 square feet, an area equal to three classrooms, from the
design;
2. Dictated that the school will be designed as a square box type
building, thereby cutting the size of hallways to be used as an indoor
track;
3. Moved the science classrooms to the second floor, thereby denying
them direct access to the 65 acres of woodland to be used for part of
the science curriculum teaching;
4. Removed direct access from the gym to the outdoors for physical
education activities and;
5. Changed the Geothermal Heating System to a system fired by Natural
Gas.
WHEREAS the decisions listed above make no sense to the municipalities
of the Almaguin Highlands since:
1. A cut of 3,000 square feet from the design of the building will limit
teaching space and no viable rationale has been provided;
2. A square box type of building may work in Southern Ontario but our
school was designed with the local climate and needs of OUR students in
mind. Indoor physical education activities on a track would enhance our
physical education programs and allow for students interested in track
events to train for more than three months a year. The building has been
designed with energy conservation in mind and a change in design at this
time will no doubt cost more money and probably make the facility less
environmentally friendly;
3. The biology and physics classrooms were put on the first floor to
provide students and teachers with an easily accessible outdoor teaching
and learning environment from the classroom. Putting custodial supplies
in a prime teaching area makes no sense;
4. Having physical education students access the outdoors through
hallways is possible but the present design provides for easier movement
and less disruption of other classes;
5. The Ministry claims that Geothermal Heating is too expensive and is
complicated to operate. They say it will take 25 years to make up the
extra $900,000.00 cost over Natural Gas. The cost of heating currently
is $100,000 per year. The School Board estimates the time to repay this
at 10 years using the present cost of natural gas. While costs from
Ground Source Heat aren’t going to increase, the cost of fossil fuels
will. Environmentally, there is no doubt that Ground Source Heat is
superior and in addition it will allow us to keep the building
temperature at a maximum of 20 degrees Celsius in the warmer months in
the whole school, not just provide the principal and the Guidance
offices with air conditioning as is the Ministry’s Plan. Local engineers
assure us that a Ground Source Heating System is probably simpler to run
and easier to maintain that a fossil fuel system.
WHEREAS the Ministry decisions listed above lead us to believe we are to
get a school designed by Accountants with no accommodation for the
educational or cultural needs of the students and the rural communities
in which they live, the climate or the environment. Specifically, the
local educational leadership, in consultation with the students, staff
and the participating municipalities, have designed a “bare bones”
educational facility which can accommodate community additions to
complement the structure and enhance our youth’s education. We, the
residents and educators of the Almaguin Highlands, know what is needed
to provide an education for our students which is equal to those who
live in urban areas, even if we have to finance some of the “extras”
ourselves.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council for the Village of Burk’s
Falls demand that the Ministry of Education fully fund the reasonable
school design previously agreed upon by the Ministry and the Near North
District School Board and that this resolution be forwarded to the Hon.
Kathleen Wynne, the Minister of Education; the Hon. Tony Clement, M.P.
for Parry Sound-Muskoka; Norm Miller, M.P.P. for Parry Sound-Muskoka;
the Hon. Monique Smith, M.P.P. for Nipissing; Anthony Rota, M.P. for
Nipissing-Timiskaming; Al Bottomley, Chair of the Near North District
School Board; and to the catchment municipalities of the proposed
Almaguin Highlands Secondary School.
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2009-205
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
WHEREAS the Council for the Municipality of the Village of Burk’s Falls
recognizes the need to provide long-term care;
AND WHEREAS, as a result of provincial under-funding, municipal levies
have continually increased to assist Eastholme, our Home for the Aged,
and are forecasted to increase by $450,000 for 2010 which represents a
95% increase in the municipal levy;
AND WHEREAS, current provincial funding is insufficient and annual
increases to the provincial subsidy have not covered inflationary
increases on base costs such as wages, employee benefits, supplies and
utilities, as well as ensuring that the home can meet the care needs of
the home’s residents to meet compliance standards;
AND WHEREAS, with the passing of the new Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007
and the soon to be released regulations, there are concerns that more of
the home’s limited resources will be spent on the new administrative
requirements leading to less money getting to the bedsides of the
residents;
AND WHEREAS, any possible increase to the accommodation subsidy each
year is currently not a reliable source of funding;
AND WHEREAS, the province’s last few budgets have not provided
sufficient additional permanent operating funding for long-term care
homes;
AND WHEREAS, the province is currently funding the unincorporated
township’s share of the budget for the District of Parry Sound Social
Services Administration Board, but has not provided a similar
arrangement for Boards of Management operating district homes for the
aged which have unincorporated townships within their jurisdiction,
notwithstanding that Eastholme and other district homes for the aged
have in past years received funding payments by the province in respect
of the unincorporated townships for operational purposes and capital
projects;
AND THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Municipality of the Village of
Burk’s Falls is requesting that the province provide increased subsidies
for 2010 and future years to ensure adequate care of the residents in
long-term care homes and to meet the inflationary increases on base
expenditures, as well as an annual operational funding payment to the
district homes for the aged in respect of the unincorporated townships
with their jurisdiction;
AND FURTHERMORE, this resolution be forwarded to:
The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, The Minister of Finance, The
North East Local Health Integration Network, Monique Smith M.P.P.
Nipissing, Norm Miller M.P.P. Parry Sound-Muskoka, Anthony Rota, M.P.
Nipissing-Timiskaming, Tony Clement, M.P. Parry Sound-Muskoka, The
Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and all supporting
municipalities of Eastholme, Home for the Aged, for their action.
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2009-206
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls have read By-law 16-2009
being a by-law to update the Accessibility Plan for the Village of
Burk’s Falls;
And that Council authorizes the Reeve and the Clerk to sign this by-law
and affix the Seal of the Corporation thereto.
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2009-207
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
That we purchase the Option 1-3 section recycling containers-22 gallon
capacity: 7 containers plus shipping at a total cost of $13,867.36
including all taxes from Paris Equipment.
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2009-208
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
That we accept the tender from T.B.M. and Associates in the amount of
$69,872.00 plus GST for the washroom building.
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2009-209
Bruce Campbell-Rex Smith
The Village of Burk’s Falls pay Jarvis Osborne, Clerk-Treasurer, a lump
sum of $2,500.00 in December 2009 to temporarily compensate for the
extra work and responsibility he has assumed. Permanent wage adjustment
will take place during the regular wage adjustments in early 2010.
Effective October 29, 2009, Donna Reid’s salary will increase by
$2.00/hour due to increased responsibilities.
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2009-210
Rex Smith-Lewis Hodgson
As per the Municipal Act S.O. 2001, c.25 as amended, 239(2) Council for
the Village of Burk’s Falls enters into a closed meeting at 9:10 p.m.
239(2)(e) Litigation or potential litigation
239(2)(b) Personal matters about an identifiable individual.
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2009-211
Ron Russell-Rex Smith
As per the Municipal Act S.O. 2001, c.25 as amended, 239 (2) Council for
the Village of Burk’s Falls exits from a closed meeting at 9:26 p.m.
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2009-212
Lewis Hodgson-Bruce Campbell
The Council for the Village of Burk’s Falls do now adjourn at 9:45 p.m.
until the next scheduled meeting on January 26, 2010.
Jarvis Osborne
Clerk/Treasurer |