Letter to the Editor
Editor,
Several important items of business were dealt with at Council meetings on September 15th and 22nd. The State of the Roads Infrastructure Report was presented to council and it was adopted.
This means that this council, most of whom would understand very little of what this 100 page report said, accepted it as gospel and gave the green light to Staff to start incorporating these ideas in their 2015 budgets. This report recommends a minimum annual preservation budget of $2.1 million and a recommended preferred budget of $3.8 million annually.
Council has committed several errors in judgement by this action . They should have tabled this document for the next council to consider and advise staff.
They also should not have accepted such a flawed document. It is full of assumptions, meagre data collection and enhanced road construction specs which we cannot afford.
A by-law to hire a temporary municipal law enforcement officer was also passed. Again this is a Lame Duck council, this should be tabled until the next council is elected!
Ray McHugh,
Candidate for Mayor
Editor’s Notes:
The hiring of a temporary bylaw officer was required to cover for a medical leave, and it expires at the end of this year. Additionally, bylaw officers are not appointed under the Municipal Act, they are appointed under the Police Services Act, and the Provincial Offences Act, so Lame Duck regulations would not apply in this case.
Had council not appointed a temporary bylaw officer, there would be no bylaw enforcement in the municipality until the return of the full-time bylaw officer.
The State of the Roads report was adopted by council as a guiding document. There was no financial commitment approved by council. Lame Duck regulations do not apply to a report like this which carries no binding financial obligations that would impact a future council.
