Town of Clark's Harbour : Town Minutes - June, 2022

Below you will find this year's Town Minutes. Please note that the most recent is at the top and the oldest one at the bottom. Each set of minutes are separated by a horiztonal line.

2311

June 23, 2022

A Special Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Rex Stoddard at 6:30 pm with Councillors Trudy Quinlan, Louanne Link, Russell Atkinson and Irene Baker present.

Additions to the Agenda:

            Water for the NS Marathon

Approval of Agenda:

             It was moved by Councillor Quinlan and seconded by Councillor Atkinson that the agenda as well as the additions be approved as circulated. Motion carried unanimously.

Student Employment:

            As there were only 2 applications received for summer employment, 1 of which has since been employed elsewhere, it was decided to reach out to higher authority to determine if the one applicant would be able to operate the tourist bureau on their own. The town is still awaiting a reply, and will email the applicant to let them know where we are at at this time.

July 1st Budget:

Councillor Baker moved to approve the July 1st budget of $25 000, Councillor Quinlan seconded the motion, motion carried.

Paving Projects:

            Councillor Quinlan motioned to approve the quote received from Town and Country of $59 075.94 for the upcoming paving projects in 2022. Councillor Link seconded the motion, motion carried.

July 1st 5K Run:

            Councillor Baker motioned to donate the proceeds from the July 1st 5K run to the “Let Your Light Shine Jevon Link Society”, Councillor Quinlan seconded the motion, motion carried.

2312



              It was 7:25 pm and there being no further business, it was motioned by Councillor Baker that the meeting be adjourned.

_________________________   ____________________
Mayor                                          Town Clerk

2306



Regular Session

Town Council

June 01, 2022

The Regular Session was called to order by Mayor Stoddard at 7:00 pm with Councillors Trudy Quinlan, Irene Baker, Louann Link and Russell Atkinson present.

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA:

1.     CCFB Transfer (formerly Gas Tax)

2.     NSFM Survey

3.     Personal Matter

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:

                It was moved by Councillor Baker and seconded by Councillor Atkinson that the agenda as well as the additions be approved as circulated. Motion carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF THE PREVIOU MINUTES:

                It was moved by Councillor Quinlan and seconded by Councillor Link that the Minutes from the previous meetings be approved as circulated. Motion carried unanimously.

APPOINTMENTS:

1.     Mom’s Unite

Mom’s Unite is a community group seeking a change and resources to fight the battle of the ever-growing drug use and mental health issues in our small communities. They asked permission to use an empty office space within our building one night per month so that they may assist those in need.

Councillor Quinlan motioned to allow the group to use the empty office space, Councillor Baker seconded the motion, Councillor Link stated a conflict of interest and did not vote, motion carried.

2.      Sergeant Toope (acting)

Sergeant Toope was present to bring Council up to date on the Barrington Detachment, what the concerns were in the area related to their duties, and to discuss any concerns Council members had.

2307

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES:

            Wastewater Treatment Plant:

                        Mayor and Council are awaiting the results of the engineers inspection that was carried out on May 16th, 2022.

            Summer Job Applications:

                        Due to an oversight, the summer job ad has been extended to June 14th, 2022.

            Volunteers:

                        The Town received 4 names to be submitted for the selection of Volunteer of the Year: Minnie Atkinson, nominated by Sea Breeze Rebeca Lodge #24, who volunteers many hours to saving and rescuing stray cats/kittens; Dan Weise, member of the Royal Canadian Legion , branch 148, with too many accolades to list here; Lynn Atkinson, treasurer for Royal Canadian Legion, branch 148; both nominated by the Legion branch 148 and Yvonne Symonds, nominated by Sea Breeze Rebeca Lodge #24, she has been with the Rebeca’s for 32 yrs and served as Noble Grand twice.

                        Council selected Dan Weise unanimously. All nominees will be invited to a supper in their honor, along with those selected from the Municipality of Barrington in September, the date to be determined.

REPORTS:

Streets, Sewers and Unsightly Premises:



The Public Works Report was presented to Council and discussed.

Recreation:

            A meeting regarding July 1st events will be held June 8th.



Building Inspector Report:

                    There were one (1) Building Permits issued in April and one (1) demolition permit issued.

2308

Mayor/Councillors:



Mayor Stoddard and Councillors reported to Council on meetings that they attended since the last regular meeting of Council.

CORRESPONDENCE:

1.      Pride Flag

The Clerk received an email from Carla Nickerson asking if Council would consider flying the Pride Flag during the month of June.

Council put in place a policy to not endorse any proclamations, October 06 2021.



NEW BUSINESS:

            Financial Condition Indicators 20/21 draft:

                        The province put into place a Financial Condition Index assessment for each town, village and municipality within Nova Scotia to help determine the financial stability of each. With indicators of red (high risk), yellow (moderate risk) and green (low risk), it was noted that the Town of Clark’s Harbour had no red indicators, 7 yellow and 6 green.

.           Draft Budget:

                        A balanced draft budget was presented to Council, it was noted that although the revenue had remained the same as previous years, the expenses rose considerably, therefore there was no allowance for budgeting for reserves.

                        The current residential tax rate of $1.68 per 100 dollars of assessment and the current commercial property tax rate of $5.58 per 100 dollars of assessment and the current sewer service rate of $208 per unit was discussed.

Councillor Atkinson motioned to increase the sewer service rate from $208 to $238, for the next fiscal of 2023/2024, due to the fact that the current years sewer service bills had already been issued, and that the residential and commercial tax rates remain the same as in previous years, Councillor Quinlan seconded the motion, motion carried.

            Deed Transfer Tax:

                        The deed transfer tax for the month of April was presented to Council for information purposes.

2309

            Capital Investment Plan:

                        The 2022/2023 Capital Investment Plan was presented to Council for consideration, a final decision will be made at a later date.



Woodland Street:

            The Town received a complaint of speeding trucks on Woodland Street going to a bait freezer located at the end of Second Street. Mayor Stoddard indicated that he would look into the matter before making a decision on deterrence.

Backhoe Usage:

            It was motioned by Councillor Atkinson and seconded by Councillor Quinlan to allow the usage of the backhoe to put wharfs in the water at the Hawk for Cape Day. Motion carried.

ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA:

            Canada Community Building Fund: (Formerly Gas Tax)

                        The Clerk asked permission to transfer $60K of the CCBF funds into a GIC for a period of one year. Councillor Baker motioned to do the transfer, Councillor Link seconded the motion, motion carried.

                        NSFM Survey:

                        Council discussed the NSFM survey which is due June 15th, 2022.

                        Personal Matter:

                        The Clerk was dismissed at this time.

                        At 9:45pm Councillor Atkinson motioned to move in camera to discuss a personal matter, Councillor Baker seconded the motion, motion carried.

                        At 10pm, Councillor Atkinson motion to move out of camera, Councillor Baker seconded the motion, motion carried.

                        Councillor Quinlan motioned to give 2 weeks of unpaid leave to the Clerk in September for her to visit her daughter and grandson who live in Alberta, Councillor Baker seconded the motion, motion carried.

2310

As there was no further business to discuss, Councillor Quinlan motioned to adjourn the meeting, the time being 10:05pm.

_______________________________       ______________________________
Mayor                                                            Town Clerk