May 16, 2006

The last regular meeting of the Wabana Town Council was held on Tuesday, May 16th. with the following in attendance:

Mayor Gosine
Deputy Mayor Pendergast
Councillor Craig
Councillor Kent
Councillor Laurie
Councillor McCarthy
Councillor Somerton
Town Manager, Mr. Kent
Town Clerk, Mrs. Butler

Const. Sean Tipple, RCMP

Council employees: Bill Lawrence, Gerry Sweeney, and Rick Whelan were in the spectators gallery.

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 by Mayor Gosine.

RCMP

Const Tipple reported on the following:

(1) The Sports Field and that it needs to be secured to keep ATV’s off the track.
(2) The Dug Outs at the sports field need to be cleaned and repaired.
(3) The Old Swimming Pool Building, kids hanging out there all the time.
(4) Some big boulders should be placed in a couple of areas so that ATV drivers cannot have access to them, i.e. Wood’s Ave off Lane, and Colbourne St.
(5) Complaints of underaged drinking at the West Mines Sports Bar.
(6) New RCMP member coming soon. Const. Steven Pike – nine years experience.
(7) Civic numbers for all houses – this to be placed in the newsletter to remind people to have numbers placed on their homes.
(8) Vandalism by youth – a real problem in the community.
(9) People loitering around dilapidated houses.

Mayor Gosine thanked Const. Tipple for attending the meeting and bringing these issues to council’s attention.

The minutes of the following meetings were adopted as circulated on a motion by Councillor Craig and seconded by Councillor Kent. Motion carried.

 regular meeting held Apr. 26, 2006
 finance committee meeting held May 3, 2006 re arena.
 Special meeting held May 9, 2006, re AIMS report.
 Special meeting held May 9, 2006, re MMSB.

ARISING OUT OF THE MINUTES

(1) James Kelloway – Mr. Kent informed council that Mr. Kelloway has started to clean up the areas we ordered him to clean up and that he is making good progress.
(2) Infrastructure Program – agreed that we would instruct our engineers to begin the study into our water and sewer system and our roads, and that council will have to pay for this study themselves if funding is not forthcoming from government. This motion was made by Deputy Mayor Pendergast and seconded by Councillor Craig. Motion carried.
(3) Kevin George – Meeting to be held on Thursday, May 18th to discuss his use of the building and his intentions.
(4) Consulting Firm – agreed that an ad be placed in the Telegram advertising for a consulting firm to undertake a study of our Human Resources, and that a committee of council would work with this firm when approved. This was covered in a motion by Councillor Craig and seconded by Councillor McCarthy. Motion carried.
(5) Emergency Response Plan – agreed that a meeting be held next Tuesday at 2:30pm with the parties involved to discuss the plan.
(6) Water/Sewer – Agreed that all taxpayers in areas where water and/or sewer services are located, be taxed for those services in 2007, whether they are connected to the systems or not.
(7) Dept. of Forestry meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 23rd. to discuss wood cutting.
(8) Parking Lot – Wabana Complex – agreed that a fax be sent to our MHA, Mrs. Dianne Whalen, to see if she can help us in having this area paved, since the building is owned by the provincial government.
(9) Old Ambulance – Gerald Tremblett – agreed that we purchase this vehicle for $5000 from Mr. Tremblett. Motion was made by Deputy Mayor McCarthy and seconded by Councillor Somerton. Motion carried.
(10) Compost Bins – orders already received for 15 bins.

FINANCIAL REPORT
Approved as presented.

TOWN MANAGER’S REPORT

(1) Mr. Kent said he has been trying to contact Brian Clarke for a meeting, but has not as yet been successful. A letter was sent to him however concerning such a meeting.
(2) Agreed that we check to see if Newfoundland Power should be paying a Permit Fee for all the work they are doing on the island recently.
(3) Pier site – crown land, etc. Mr. Kent said that the lawyers are dealing with this issue now and we should hear something soon.

ARENA REPORT
As it was already agreed that the Arena Manager would be kept on all summer, it was decided that he would oversee the fields, and determine what needs to be done regarding repairs, fencing, etc. A motion was made by Councillor Craig and seconded by Councillor Kent that work would start in the next week and a half (according to the Town Manager) towards getting the fields upgraded. Motion carried.

Also it was mentioned that perhaps the Arena Manager could meet with various user groups of the sports fields with a view to obtaining some financial assistance towards having the fields upgraded.

CORRESPONDENCE

(1) Letter from the Dept. of Government Services (Hon. Dianne Whalen) advising that the driver examinations will not be reinstated on Bell Island.
(2) Letter from the Dept. of Transportation and Works (Hon. Trevor Taylor) re ferry rates – Mayor Gosine said the information in this letter is not correct and that the Ferry User Committee will be responding to it with the correct stats.
(3) Letter from the Town of King’s Point re their Waste Management problems. Agreed that we would send them a letter of support, but that we cannot get involved financially.
(4) Email from Edward Kent re Provincial Transportation funding for 2006 for Conception Bay East-Bell Island.
(5) Letter from the Dept. of Environment and Conservation re Imperial Oil Land at the Pier. Mr. Kent explained that he and been speaking to Mr. Peter Howe, Manager of Crown Lands, who informed him that Imperial Oil will be cleaning up the pipe line and the bulk storage site and the pier site is under review.
(6) Letter from Pyramid re cost to have Greenwood Avenue and Downing Street paved ($27,010 HST exra). Agreed that the minister of Municipal Affairs, Honourable Jack Byrne, and our MHA, Honourable Dianne Whalen be written and lobbied to have a cost-shared program approved for this small project. Also it was agreed that we lobby the provincial government to have the Wabana Complex parking lot paved. The motion to have this work cost shared with government if approved was made by Councillor McCarthy and seconded by Deputy Mayor Pendergast. Motion carried.
(7) Reminder from the NLFM re a meeting with the NEAJC scheduled for May 25, 2006 at the City Hall in St. John’s.
(8) Email from a Scout Troop in St. John’s who wishes to come to Bell Island on Saturday, May 27th. to plant 100 evergreen seedlings. This was approved and thought to be a great idea.
(9) Letter from Eastern Health requesting that the Wabana Complex be made available to the Dr. Walter Templeman Health Centre in the event of an internal disaster requiring evacuation, with the patients having to be relocated to a safe environment until further transfer is arranged. Agreed that this be discussed at a meeting next week when our Emergency Plan will be discussed with all those who are involved with the emergency process.
(10) Report of committee meeting which was formed for the purpose of repairing the former Town Council Building, at Town Square. Mr. Kent informed those present that council has carried out a lot of work there in the last couple of weeks, and that the roof now seems to be the biggest problem, it needs new shingling. It was mentioned that Sean Wilkshire from Avalon Employment and Myrle Vokey from Hon. Dianne Whalen’s office will be meeting with the committee soon.

CONCERNS

(1) The Town Manager informed council that the cadets would be doing a clean up at Lance Cove Beach, and other areas, and that we will assist them by picking up the garbage bags afterwards.

(2) Mr. Kent said he talked to Mr. Taylor (Peddler) and informed him that he must have a permit and that he has to work out of one area only. After a discussion, it was felt that Mr. Taylor is providing a valuable service to our residents, especially seniors, and that he would be permitted to continue his door to door peddling.

(3) Councillor McCarthy said that some clean up work should be done soon on the ball fields.

(4) Councillor Laurie informed council that she laid the wreath on behalf of council at the Battle of the Atlantic, but felt that some prior arrangements should have been made, as she was put on the spot so to speak. Mayor Gosine informed council that we were not invited to the ceremony, until very late, with no time to arrange for someone to lay the wreath. He thanked Councillor Laurie for bringing this to our attention and for representing the town at the ceremony. Next year it is hoped we will be invited in ample time to have a representative of the town present there.

(5) Councillor Laurie asked about the meeting we had with representatives of the School Board concerning the AIMS report. Mayor Gosine said that we showed passion in our hope that the grade level will improve, and that no teacher units will be removed this coming school season.

(6) Deputy Mayor thanked council on behalf of Mr. Keith Kent, for having the water system to his residence replaced, thus providing a far more adequate supply of water there.

(7) Deputy Mayor Pendergast said he would like to see the dump remain open until 2:45 instead of 2:30 daily, still giving the employees plenty of time to return to the depot before 3:30.

(8) Councillor Kent asked about the new map and when it will be ready. The Town Clerk informed him that Mr. Connors has asked his brother to run of several copies for us, and we should have them any day .

(9) Councillor Kent spoke on dilapidated houses, and that we need a listing of such houses with a master plan on how to deal with them. Also he said we should check to see that taxes are paid on those properties as well.

(10) Councillor Kent spoke on the condition of the old wharf at the Beach, and that Hunt’s (owners of the wharf) should be made clean it up. Deputy Mayor Pendergast said that this structure serves as a good breakwater for the ferries.

(11) Councillor Kent felt that the old tractor and boat at Lance Cove Beach should be removed. He was informed that Mr. Edward Coxworthy and his newly formed committee will be looking after this.

(12) Councillor Kent asked why employee Gary Sweeney had the use of council’s backhoe last weekend. Mr. Kent said that some cleanup work had to be done on his property where the new drainage system was put there to keep the area from flooding.

(13) Councillor Kent said that many of our road and traffic signs are missing or damaged and need to be replace and/or repaired.

(14) Councillor Laurie said that house numbers are very important for our residents to have on their homes, especially for emergency purposes. She said in the future the provincial 911 number will be extended to include Bell Island, thus the need for the house numbering to be a priority.

(15) Councillor Somerton said that several area in the Valley are being used for dumping sites, and must be cleaned up. The Town Manager said this will be taken care of.

(16) Councillor Somerton suggested that the commuters’ traffic line-up at the Beach be changed to the inside line, as it is too difficult and dangerous for non-commuters to park in the inside lane when the commuters are outside. Mayor Gosine said this will be discussed at the Ferry Users Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

(17) Councillor Craig suggested we write Aliant with a view to having the Extended Area Service (EAS) fee dropped from our phone bills, as we are the only community paying that now. He said we should not have to pay this charge any longer.

(18) Councillor Craig suggested we write Scotiabank with a view to them providing a service here whereas residents can make deposits, perhaps just twice a month would be sufficient.

(19) Mayor Gosine said that if the Credit Union decides to set up on Bell Island, space can be provided here at the complex.

(20) Councillor Craig felt that there should be dumping fees at the dumpsite for contractors who use our services there. This to be discussed by the Finance Committee at a later date.

(21) Councillor Craig said that there seems to be a big problem with roaming dogs recently, mainly because people let their dogs out after 4pm when our animal control officer is finished work for the day. Mr. Kent said that he will instruct our Animal Control Officer to work some extra evening hours to try to stop this practice, and also that he do more patrols around the community.

(22) Mayor Gosine said that he has been approached by Mr. Walter Lahey who is wondering when our garbage contract will be put out to tender. It was agreed that we would tender our garbage collection by running an ad in the Telegram.

(23) Councillor McCarthy suggested we wait until our evaluation is carried out, as perhaps after that we may not need to tender our garbage pickup anymore.

(24) Mayor Gosine said that next year council should get involved in Municipal Awareness Week, perhaps by getting the schools involved, like other towns do.

(25) Mayor Gosine informed council that there will be a dinner and dance at St. Michael’s School on June 17th. sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, where dignitaries from South America will be in attendance. He encouraged as many councilors as possible to attend this function.

Employee Rick Whalen, informed council that people are coming to the dump site too late to have the garbage covered with fill, this should be addressed.

Employee Bill Lawrence said that NLHC are the biggest offenders when it comes to roaming dogs. He said almost everyone in their rental units have dogs, and they are not supposed to. Agreed that we write them again about this matter.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 10:20pm on a motion by Councillor Craig and seconded by Councillor Somerton. Motion carried.

CONFIRMED

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Mayor

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Town Clerk

Next meeting Tuesday, June 13th. at 7:30 pm.