Report on Council:
June 10, 2013
Committee of the Whole Meeting: 9:00 am –- 11:35
Confidential Closed Session 11:00 – 11:34 am
Regular Meeting: 7:00 pm- 7:27
Mayor Millar, Deputy Mayor Lawrence, Councillors Warren, Wishart, Claire
Beach Access
Council discussed the background to providing a standard authorization procedure to allow shoreline property owners access to their property for emergency repairs to or installation of wells or septics while protecting the integrity of the beach area. In the past applicants have misled the Township in order to gain access to the right of ways to the beach. Councillor Wishart suggested that because of the low water levels perhaps Council should be more lenient in granting access if people want to move something or repair the beach or other events as deemed appropriate by the Manager of Public Works. Henk Blum makes discretionary decisions, for example the removal of sand by Concessions 1,2, 4 and 5. Mayor Millar wondered if Tiny shouldn’t have a list of authorized contractors who have demonstrated a respect for the dunes and beach and can post a performance bond. Henk mentioned that the placing of bonds can be cumbersome and if the process is too onerous then the contractors will simply ignore the official channels.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has given permission to dredge, to use machinery to pull rocks in in order to make it safer for boating. Mr. Gubins now needs permission to access Block A which is owned by the Township. In 1985 Block A was covered in water.
Councill will review Mr. Gubin’s presentation.
Metis Transit
Metis Transit is Canada’s first aboriginal owned and operated municipal style public transit. It’s costs are covered by fares and advertising. No operating funding is received from any level of government. Metis Transit came before Council to request approval for the commencement of a 6-8 month survey of the community to discern where the transport needs are. The system is designed to provide a training ground for Aboriginal, Metis and the local community by providing jobs. Community days to promote local community groups and events will be held. Routes with a 5% increase or 15% decrease will be changed. Eventually Metis Transit will link with other means of transit.
Farlain Lake Speed Issues
A data collection trailer was set up on the road and data was collected but Tiny’s Bylaw Officers only download the data and send it on to the OPP, they don’t interpret it. Since the OPP is coming to the next Council meeting it was suggested that they could interpret it beforehand and bring it to the meeting. If the data warranted it, money could be taken out of the Paid Duty Officer budget to enforce the speed limit on a few occasions and send a message to speeders.The Paid Duty Officer budget came from the considerable rebate on OPP costs which was placed into a Policing Services Reserve Account. It was also mentioned that the communication cycle was incomplete in that the original complainant does not receive feedback on what is being done.
Narrow Roads
In discussions concerning the narrowness of certain municipal roads it was suggested that the report on parking by Public works include the state of the roads examined and if they need widening.
Confidentiality of Applicants
Mayor Millar voiced his concern regarding the lack of transparency with committee appointments. At the moment committee appointments are not subject to public scrutiny. The mayor would like to see a situation where when you apply to a public committee your application form will be made public. This may entail a redesign of the application form so that the applicant would only be required to give professional, not personal information.
