LoW councillor miffed by secrecy

Ruth Brett
Contributor

The Lake of the Woods Township Council met on Dec. 7th with Mayor Pizey, Councillors C. Fadden, J. Moen, B. Lundgren, T. Sepers, Clerk-Treasurer P. Giles, Road Supt. E. Pearson, and five visitors present.
Clerk Giles reported that Tony Sepers had been elected in the Township by-election and that he (Giles) had administered the oath of office to Mr. Sepers on November 15th, 2004. Mayor Pizey welcomed Mr. Sepers to Council.
Councillor Sepers then addressed Council expressing strong displeasure” it is extremely difficult for me to be polite” at being excluded from a meeting of Council members, held in late November, to discuss the care of the community halls. He went on to say, in part, that “several questions need to be answered in order for you to retain my trust”. (Since the original meeting date, Nov. 18th, had been cancelled due to Mayor Pizey’s absence, he had asked a Council member if new date had been set. He was told that the meeting had already taken place but he could be told no more about it because it was in-camera). Mr., Sepers asked Council why he, a member of Council, had not been informed of the meeting date.
He asked “Who among you has the dictatorial right to decide what is legal without proper investigation?”. If there was a question regarding his legal standing as a Council member, Mr. Sepers said it took him less than two hours to research the Municipal Act, the LoW Twp.’s own Procedural By-laws and to contact the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to affirm that he was indeed “a bona fide member of Council”. He asked “Could you not have made the same small effort? Not one of you has the right to willy-nilly decide legality because it suits your agenda”. and “Who decided?” .... “shame on those members of Council who allowed this manipulation”. “What motivates this manipulation?” and “Why was a meeting that had no reason to be held in-camera, held in-camera?” “Who makes and plays fast with the rules around here?” Mr. Sepers received no explanation nor comment from Mayor or Councillors.
At 7:15 pm, Council sat as a committee of adjustment for two consent applications. Clerk Giles reported that no questions had been made on either file. Conditional approval was granted to consent application 46B0404, subject to the five conditions attached and to consent application 46B0405 subject to the three conditions attached.
The business of the regular meeting commenced at 7:50 pm. Bills for the month of November in the amount of $133,002.69 were approved for payment.
Council received a letter from A. Versluis regarding the budget for the two community halls. He asks several questions and has “grave concerns about where the taxpayer’s money is being spent without any accountability”. Clerk Giles has been instructed to discuss with Mr. Versluis his concerns and provide paperwork proof of the budget spending.
Roads Report: A local logger has not moved his equipment nor has he stopped loading from the roadside as requested. Council has suggested the matter be turned over to the OPP.
Clerk Giles was authorized to write to a local business requesting that his houseboats be removed from the road allowance.
Road Supt. has been instructed, that when plowing Birch Road, to continue to turn around at the E. Johnson driveway.
The Clerk told Council that there had been only one bid for the old plow truck. Council has authorized E. Pearson to order a 11’ box and hoist for the new truck, less the old truck ($2,000.00) for a net cost of $5,700.00 plus taxes from Tank’s Welding. The box to be received and billed for in January, 2005.
Fire Department: Fire Chief L. Nordin has resigned and W. Detweiler is willing to take the position.
Council was given, for their approval, a list of willing volunteer firefighters. Basic training has begun. CPR and First Aid training for seven volunteers has been completed.
Recreation update: According to S. Gate, Bergland Friends of Recreation, they are still waiting to hear from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission regarding the status of their lottery licenses. They have two activities planned for the winter months, a pokerama in Bergland and a fish derby in Morson. They have made donations to the Twp. so that young people can use the sports facilities at the hall. Last winter, due to poor ice conditions, they gave money to the school so that the kids could be bussed to the Rainy River rink.
Old Business: Council agrees that the town of Fort Frances be authorized to sign the 911 dispatch agreement with the OPP on behalf of LoW Twp.
Tax sale notices have again gone out and some monies have been received, but several taxes are still in arrears. Council has authorized a total of $2975.25 in tax arrears written off.
The Ministry of Environment is making an amendment to Regulation 170/03 regarding drinking water systems and testing at the community halls extending the deadline to July 1, 2006. Council will advise RRFDC that the community access computer is still required in Bergland.
New Business: A fairly lengthy discussion went on regarding The Procurement of Goods and Services Policy. By-Law # 135, being the Procurement of Goods and Services By-Law, was enacted by recorded vote. For - C. Fadden, J. Moen and V. Pizey. Against - B. Lundgren, T. Sepers.
By-Law # 136, being the Hiring of Relatives By-Law, was enacted.
By-Law # 137 being the M. Stintzi Drain Cost Amending and Levying By-Law was enacted.
By-Law # 138, being the Fire Chief Appointment By-Law, was enacted. Subject to a satisfactory medical examination, Council will appoint firefighters from the list of volunteers submitted and further to that their WSIB coverage will be set at $35,000.00.
Council has authorized Clerk Giles to write to the neighbouring First Nations to request a meeting to discuss joint fire protection issues.
Other Business:Council will support the resolutions of the Twp. of Algonquin Highlands requesting a deposit system for beverage containers, and of North Bay requesting respect for revenue neutrality for LSR and south Algonquin respectively regarding assessment by MPAC.
Council received a letter from Rainycrest requesting for input on the matter of the privatization of the administration of that facility. Council is not in favour of privatization.
The next regular meeting will be held on January 11, 2005