PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE NOT OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF GLENBORO SOUTH CYPRESS. THIS INFORMATION IS PURELY A REPORT FROM MY OBSERVATIONS WHILE ATTENDING THE COUNCIL MEETING.
The December 2022 council meeting was held in the fire hall in Glenboro on December 14. Present were council members Dale Fisher, Ed Bedford, Alfie Hunt, Richard Hunt, and Head of Council Chuck Radford. Also present were Municipal Administrative Assistant Donna Fillion and Finance Manager Shelley Boulet. Councillor Tracy Campbell joined the meeting remotely due to the inclement weather. CAO Darren Myers was not present, and Development Officer Rachel Andrews also sent her regrets. Municipal Works Supervisor Matthew Neale attended briefly.
Council was called to order at 8:45am by Head of Council Radford.
Some discussion was had regarding the organization of the meeting, members were invited to get coffee, and Donna Fillion opened the meeting as acting CAO. Donna Fillion added two items to the agenda before it was adopted by council.
Meeting minutes from the November meeting were reviewed and approved.
Second and third readings were given to bylaws:
To set a speed restricted zone, rather than a speed zone, by request of the province.
To set indemnity for the new council: mileage rate was raised to $0.60/km and council has opted to have indemnity paid quarterly rather than monthly.
For review of the council Code of Conduct.
There was to have been a public hearing at the December meeting for ByLaw #88, but this has been delayed until the January 2023 meeting due to legal timelines and provincial notification.
Financial Manager Shelley Boulet supplied up-to-date lists of accounts to all members and council members took a moment to review the figures. The only question asked was why the Municipality of Glenboro South Cypress was making payouts to Brandon and Beautiful Plains school divisions. It was explained that this is because some students on the borders of our municipality are actually in the catchment areas and attend schools in those districts, and this transfer of funds reflects that.
Another expense on the list of accounts was with regard to the repair of a culvert area in the NW area of the municipality. As Councillor Dale Fisher was contracted to do the work, he was recused from the meeting and the payment for this expense was voted on separately.
Financial statements for the month were previously sent out electronically to the members of council for review. Mrs Boulet reviewed the areas of concern, and went over the overall revenues and expenditures, budgeted and actual amounts, and the current balance on accounts.
“It’s looking good, but we have a lot of expenses coming out this month,” explained Boulet.
It was also mentioned that the Health Action Committee Health Suite has had increased revenues with physicians in residence, and that the weed district also did better than projected. Projections indicate that the items which are expected to be over budget will be hydro, fuel, and public works equipment repairs.
A motion was made to accept the financial statements as presented, and was carried unanimously.
Each year, the municipality must provide a rough estimate of what the following year’s budget will look like; a draft budget, if you will. Referred to as an “interim operating budget”, these numbers do not have to be strictly adhered to, but the government requires an estimate; this allows bills to be paid until the actual budget numbers are approved. This was explained to council members and carried.
Next, the cancellation of taxes and debts was discussed. Councillor Bedford recused himself for this discussion as he has a personal connection with the issue. In this case, council discussed the reimbursement of sewer fees to urban properties which are not, in fact, connected to sewer services. Those residents shall receive a letter stating the fact of the refund, and that this will be reflected on their tax statement in 2023.
An annual resolution is required, as a formality, by the Royal Bank in order to continue the line of credit (LOC) for the municipality. This LOC is typically used in low-cash-flow situations (i.e., cash is not available to pay for necessary expenditures, but will be available within the fiscal year). Administrative Assistant Donna Fillion noted that it has not been necessary to “dip into” the fund in the last 3-4 years, but keeping access to the funds is necessary to ensure that projects can be undertaken in a timely fashion. Resolution was made and carried.
Financial Manager Shelley Boulet noted to Council that the Building Sustainable Communities grant program (which will fund up to 50% of project costs to a maximum of $75K) applications will be due in January if council wishes to apply for funding for new projects. This information is also shared with community groups such as the GCDC, Recreation District, etc.
Public Works Supervisor’s update was delivered by Matthew Neale. A general conversation was held regarding upcoming duties and tasks. A discussion was had with regard to repairs to a municipal vehicle, including new running boards and repair to a hole in the roof of the cab. Mr Neale stated that he had received a quote for repairs from an area business of $2100, and it was suggested that the hole in the roof might be a simple fix that could be less expensively done by municipal employees. Councillor Tracy Campbell noted that liability issues may be encountered should the fix be done non-professionally and that it ought to be fixed professionally in order to ameliorate risk to the municipality. An extensive discussion was had on the overall value of the vehicle, and eventually it was decided that the final decision be held off and returned to at a future meeting.
Mr Neale then gave a general overview of the state of municipal works and upcoming projects. He noted that tires awaiting recycling at the waste transfer station would be removed shortly, and that the municipality will benefit from this as $0.50 is paid for each recycled tire collected. Several hundred dollars should be recouped from this, given the amount of used tires currently being held.
The five year plan for machinery replacement was discussed, and some changes/adjustments may be implemented by the new council. The original plan was that, in 2023, a new compactor would be purchased for the current garbage truck, and a new grader would be purchased in 2024. There was $220K allocated to the reserves for these purchases. It was noted that the municipality must plan for equipment expenditures, and that is why we have the reserve funds, and that the province requires that municipalities keep this information available. Matthew Neale suggested that the municipality retain the compactor for the garbage truck and change out the truck, as the constant idling is more costly with the price of diesel fuel. It was also suggested that the dump trailer be sold and replaced with a tandem truck. Financial Manager Shelley Boulet asked for approximate costs on these purchases.
Further, extensive, varied discussion was held on various equipment issues and plans. The sale of other pieces of equipment owned by the municipality was considered, as well. It was decided that Mr Neale will do some further research on equipment usage and possible replacement and bring that information back to the January 2023 meeting of council.
Options on work division and planning for the municipal works department were discussed, including the possible search for an additional employee for public works. Mr Neale has some concerns about coverage of mowing, as well as other jobs. Councillor Bedford noted that everyone, all municipalities, is having trouble getting part time help, students, etc. Administrative Assistant Donna Fillion was asked about, and briefly outlined, the process for hiring new employees. A resolution was passed to advertise for an additional seasonal public works employee.
When results of the last census were published, it was discovered that an error had been made by Statistics Canada, and the municipality’s population was grossly under-reported. This had been reported by municipal administrative staff to that office, and the municipality has been awaiting confirmation that corrections have been made. Shelley Boulet noted that this confirmation has now been received. This was of great concern, because many types of funding, from grants to municipal levies, are based on population, and some groups who are being funded based on per capita (i.e., library) will now be funded at actual levels, rather than the underreported levels. This correction has taken months to clear through Statistics Canada.
Council then made a motion to go in camera briefly.
At 10:40am, a remote session was held with Landmark Planning and Design. Council members were introduced and the representatives from Landmark – Donovan Toews and his colleague – gave a presentation on the services offered by their organization. Landmark gets involved in all sorts of land use projects, public and private sector, and work closely with MTI on things such as bridges, roads, and water projects. They proceeded to present for approximately 25 minutes to council on the Assiniboine Delta Aquifer, and how they are working with the province to change how the aquifer is managed. This grew out of a request by Manitoba Horticulture Productivity Enhancement Centre (essentially, potato producers) to find ways to get more water from the aquifer for the irrigation of crops.
Mr Toews noted that the objective was “...to get anyone who has anything to do with the aquifer together to talk about it, otherwise it’s just competing interests”. He then noted that the water in the aquifer doesn’t belong to Glenboro South Cypress, that it belongs to everyone and is controlled by the province. It was stated that copies of the study would be made available to Council.
Councillor Fisher gave a brief update on the Growth & Prosperity Committee, which has been lobbying for access to natural gas in the south-central portion of the province. This group, in one form or another, has been working on this for many years. It has finally been decided that one more attempt will be made to see if this can work (through a request for meetings with appropriate provincial ministers), but that the general consensus of this group was that the group would probably be dissolved after this attempt, should they not be successful.
Back in the spring of 2021, fire went through Shilo base and the Municipality of North Cypress Langford called on our fire department for assistance. They then asked us to submit a bill for them to pay for the services rendered for the extensive fire coverage. Payment of approximately $11,000 was made, but their DFA claim was subsequently denied, and they have asked for those funds to be returned. In their original letter, they did advise that their funding may be denied and they would be asking for any payment back should that happen. Glenboro South Cypress does have an agreement with North Cypress Langford to offer assistance when required. After discussing this issue, the council decided that the municipality would write a cheque and reimburse the funds.
The Glenboro South Cypress Fire Department made a request for equipment to assist with vehicle extractions. The price of this equipment is approximately $70K. It was noted that more money is being taken out of the Fire Department Reserve fund each year than is being put in, and that there is not enough in the reserves to cover this expenditure. Finance Manager Shelley Boulet noted that there may be grant funding available to support this purchase. Further discussion and decision on this issue was put off until the January 2023 council meeting, and council members suggested that Fire Department representatives be invited to attend.
Other topics discussed by council during the December 2022 meeting included:
A resolution to end the probational employment period for two probationary staff
sewers, roads, sidewalks
proposals for engineering for lagoon coming in
A required annual resolution to allow for Enbridge to complete integrity digs as needed
Replacement of the shelter/trailer at the Stockton ferry site
AMM representatives have requested to come out to meet the new council in February
Painting of the hull of the Stockton ferry
Use of the dump by non-residents of GSC, and how this could be managed
Upcoming meetings/code of conduct training for municipal councilLors
Council members reports on committee meetings attended
Irrigation policy review
Meeting at the fire hall for all interested municipalities with regard to the state of the marsh and the impacts it is having on properties in the area
At the end of the meeting, council returned to “in camera” briefly before adjourning in the early afternoon.
Please note that regular council meetings are open to the public. As ratepayers, you have every right to attend and observe. Should you wish to address the council, a delegation request should be sent to the CAO well in advance of the meeting.
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