The last regular meeting was held on Tuesday, Oct. 26th. with the following in attendance:

Mayor Gosine
Deputy Mayor Pendergast
Councillor Kent
Councillor Laurie
Councillor Pitts
Councillor Squires
Town Manager, Mr. Kent
Town Clerk, Mrs. Butler

Const. Steve Burke- RCMP

David Barrett
George Byrne

The meeting was called to order at 4:05pm. The minutes of the last regular meeting were adopted as circulated on a motion by Deputy Mayor Pendergast and seconded by Councillor Pitts. Motion carried.

RCMP

Const. Burke reported on fighting, drinking and disturbing the peace at the teen dances at the Heritage Hall. It was felt that some stipulations should be placed on those dances, similar to what was outlined for the Teen Centre when it was in operation.

Const. Burke said that the problem of ATV's seems to be much improved, with no major problems with them lately.

David Barrett/George Byrne

Those gentlemen are proposing to develop and operate a park and resort on crown land at the front of the island. Mr. Kent informed council that the area in question would have to be rezoned in order to accommodate this development. He also made mention that a small area of the development site is included in the development plans for Provincial Energy Ventures Ltd. (Ron Mercer). After a discussion a motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pendergast and seconded by Councillor Laurie that approval in principle be granted to Mr. Barrett and Mr. Byrne for their proposed development, and that council start the rezoning procedure for this development. Motion carried.

Arising out of the minutes

(1) Motorcross Races - Mayor Gosine reported that three local groups benefited greatly from the proceeds of those races this past summer. He also said he is in the process of setting up a meeting with the Motorcross officials, and council to discuss future races and where they should take place.

(2) Paving for future years - The Town Manager was requested to prepare a priority list for possible paving next year.

(3) Softball Banquet - Mayor Gosine thanked Councillor Squires for representing the town at this event.
Councillor Squires suggested the field be upgraded by way of calling bids from the local contractors. This to be considered.

(4) Come Home Year - Mayor Gosine said another meeting would be held shortly to discuss the events for Come Home Year. It was mentioned that the events and functions, etc. could be combined with the events planned by the WBGC for 2005. Dave Brazil to be contacted for information regarding the next meeting.

(5) Vacation Schedule for employees for 2005 to be posted as soon as possible.

(6) Bell Island Map - quotation from Jill Hart for $1000 to design a map for Bell Island was discussed. It was suggested that the Town Manager check with some of the local groups to see if they will cost share the expense to have this map prepared.

(7) Steve Neary Mural - Councillor Squires was concerned that council had funded the cost of repairs to this mural. Mr. Kent explained that Mrs. Neary had requested the mural be upgraded, and so did our MP Norm Doyle, on behalf of Mrs. Neary. He said Bill Whalen agreed to do the minor repairs at a cost of $240.00, which was put against his council taxes.

(8) Landfill/dumpsite - Councillor Kent felt the dump should be open on Saturdays, and perhaps this can be done by the employees taking turns working there. He also said he felt four or five hours it takes to clean the landfill area is far too long, he said this should be done in less time. Councillor Squires felt that there should only be one employee at the dumpsite, one with heavy equipment abilities. It was felt that council should obtains some information from other towns who have landfill operations to see how many work there, and the costs involved for the operation of the landfill area, etc.

Financial Report - accepted as presented.

Town Manager's Report (1) Councillor Kent made mention that with the increase in the cost of gas and diesel oil, council employees should not be using town vehicles to go home for lunch. It was decided that we talk to the employees about the high costs involved and ask them for suggestions on how we can cut down on these expenditures. (2) Councillor Kent was concerned that a new base pan was not purchased for the loader wen it was extensively repaired recently. He felt in future we not risk using used equipment which carry no warranties.

Arena Report - (1) Ice will be on the rink this week. (2) Bill Ford will be retiring in April. Suggested we start soon to look for a replacement for Mr. Ford.

Applications

(1) from Clare Baker to open a foot care clinic in the old museum building on No. 2 Road, one or two days on a bi-weekly basis, and an outlet for orthopedic appliances, and a 'dollar store' type operation also. This was approved in principle on a motion by Deputy Mayor Pendergast and seconded by Councillor Pitts. Motion carried.

(2) from Julia Koehler to build a house on Dwyer's Road, the Front. This application was approved in principle on a motion by Deputy Mayor Pendergast and seconded by Councillor Pitts. Motion carried.

Correspondence

(1) Info from Dept. of Natural Resources re bulk sampling. Ordered placed on file.
(2) Letter from the Executive Council re order of Newfoundland nominations. Mayor Gosine nominated Edward Kent for this award, this nomination was seconded by Councillor Laurie. Motion carried.
(3) Info from Robert Pittman re Gary Sweeney's grievance. Agreed that we accept the agreement drawn up re job security for Mr. Sweeney at the landfill operation site.
(4) Info from the North East Avalon regarding regulations for smoking in public places. On this topic Councillor Laurie said this issue was discussed at the recent convention and it was debated whether a bylaw be made either by the municipal or provincial government.
(5) Information re Capital Coast and the AGM, agreed that anyone wishing to attend to let the Town Clerk know.

Councillors' concerns
(1) Deputy Mayor Pendergast suggested that we tender out the delivery of salt and sand this year for our winter needs. Mayor Gosine declared himself in conflict of interest on this topic. Agreed that we would call for tenders from the local contractors.
(2) Councillor Pitts suggested the usual 8pm curfew for Halloween Trick or Treaters. This was accepted and notification will be made to both schools regarding this.
(3) Councillor Pitts asked that a note of sympathy be forwarded to Mr. Wm Hunt (Garbage Contractor) on the recent death of his sister, Violet.
(4) Councillor Pitts asked when old debris from old recently removed houses would be removed. Mr. Kent said this should be taken care of soon.
(5) Councillor Squires said that someone had dumped some used asphalt behind the highways depot, and suggested it could be of some use to us.
(6) Councillor Squires asked about dilapidated houses and what steps are being taken now. Mr.Kent explained about the appeal from Florence Pynn, and that a decision will be made shortly regarding this.
(7) Councillor Squires said that local contractors are constantly removing rock from ore stockpiles, and felt council should be compensated for such rock removal, as we do control those stockpiles. Mr.Kent informed council that one of the local contractors always pay for rock removal, but the other contractors do not. A discussion took place with the result being that we seek legal advise from Mr. William Goodridge, as to how we can control this, and if we need to charge offenders, what can we charge them under.
(8) Councillor Squires said he had received assessment notices for two properties which were owned by the old Dev. Assoc. who no longer exist. The Town Clerk said she would take care of making the necessary changes.
(9) Councillor Laurie reminded council that at the recent convention it was stressed that councillors should not discuss employees in open meetings as there is provision under the Privacy Act, for employees to be protected there. She said we should discuss situations regarding the employees in more general terms for our own protection.
(10) Councillor Laurie said that there seems to be an increase in rodents around the island since we stopped burning garbage. Mr. Kent said the dump area is treated by PCO Services every month, which should control the situation. He did say that there are always more reports of rodents as the weather turns colder.
(11) Councillor Laurie said that one employee has started his series of Hepatitis B shots, and hopes the other employees will do likewise.
(12) Councillor Kent said that people who tear down old buildings should be responsible for reinstating the site. It was suggested that a fee be charged to those obtaining permits to insure they clean up the site. This fee can then be returned to them when they have the sites restored to council's satisfaction.
(13) Councillor Kent mentioned several areas in the Lance Cove area that need cleaning up, Mr. Kent said Mr. Simms from the Environment Dept. has been contacted to come investigate those areas.
(14) Councillor Kent said council should do something about all the old buses around the island, he felt they should not be allowed to remain on properties and used for sheds or whatever.
(15) Councillor Kent reported that the water in the bathroom at the Curling Club is on all the time, and that this should be checked by council and the practise stopped immediately.
(16) Mayor Gosine said the convention was excellent and suggested the Town Manager and the Town Clerk attend next year. He said he had the opportunity to speak to several cabinet ministers and discuss issues of importance to our town, and he extended an invitation to them to visit the island.
(17) Mayor Gosine said he spoke with Sean Martin at the convention, who said he would come to the island soon to discuss property assessment issues.
(18) Mayor Gosine said that the highways department would be downgrading the number of snow clearing pieces of equipment to the island again this winter. He said this is unacceptable and we should make our concerns known to the Dept. of Work, Services.
(19) Mayor Gosine said that our town did not win an aware re the Tidy Towns competition, but we did get a 79% score and a certificate. He said next year we should have a meeting designated to this matter with many getting involved and spreading the word to all home owners to have their properties made clean and tidy.
(20) Mayor Gosine asked if council was prepared to help the NLFM with some small yearly financial payments towards the mortgage on their building. It was suggested that perhaps $250.00 per year for three years be provided.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 6:55pm on a motion by Councillor Pitts and seconded by Councillor Squires. Motion carried.

CONFIRMED

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Mayor

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Town Clerk

Next meeting Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 at 4pm