Letter of response from Northern Bruce Peninsula Municipality
to the letter dated 26 January 2004 from Secretary Reg Fortune
and hand delivered to the municipal staff
with directions to put it in the Mayor’s mail box.

The following is a copy of the letter received by Nigel Allwood from Cathy Robins, that was discussed at an executive meeting held at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, 9 April 2004. The underlined sections are numbered to references of the notes taken by Vice-President Jim Sauve during this meeting and used as reference for the letter dated 23 June 2004 to Mayor Milt McIver.



Municipality of
Northern Bruce Peninsula
56 Lindsay Road 5, R.R. #2, Lion’s Head, ON N0H 1W0
Telephone: (519) 793-3522 . Fax: (519) 793-3823


March 12, 2004


Mr. Nigel Allwood
Stokes Bay Ratepayers Association
General Delivery
Stokes Bay, Ontario
N0H 2M0

Dear Mr. Allwood:

I am writing to you in response to a letter that secretary Reg Fortune presented to the municipality near the end of January. Today I received an email from Mr. Fortune indicating that we should respond to you since he has resigned his position from your group as a result of our delay to his letter.

Please be advised that I did have a fairly lengthy telephone conversation the last week of February with Mr. Fortune relating to most of the items outlined in his letter.

Council does recognize that local ratepayer groups have a mandate within the community. At the time we are giving thought to the most effective way to address the concerns of ratepayer groups and to communicate with these groups. A solution must be found that addresses the needs of such groups in a manner that is effective and efficient from the municipal perspective. I believe that there are now some seventeen ratepayer groups within out municipality. We have not formally adopted or considered a process but I do hope to present some type of recommendation to Council soon. It has become apparent to us this past year that a ratepayer group does not necessarily reflect the views or wishes of all the ratepayers within a particular area when presenting a position on an issue or concern. The municipality must consider the views of all ratepayers.(1)

To address the issues and questions raised in Mr. Fortune's letter, at the present time your group can certainly address memos to Council relating to specific issues and wait for our response. (2) As a matter of clarification, the last response sent to your group by the Clerk was copied to Mayor and Council. An issue of particular urgency or concern can be presented to Council by delegation. The Mayor often attends annual meetings of ratepayer groups to provide updates relating to municipal acivities and to answer questions.

To the best of my knowledge the Greenough Harbour development is moving forward this year. (3) My current “to do” list includes preparation of a subdivision agreement for this development. Mr. Keeso has obtained draft approval from the County, proceeded to put appropriate zoning in place, resolved issues relating to snake habitat, etc. I am uncertain as to the information you would like to receive(4) but I will certainly attempt to answer any questions brought forward. The appropriate public meetings have been held for the zoning and subdivision approvals as required under the Planning Act.

In my opinion(5) the municipality is making significant efforts to communicate with the public. Our agendas and minutes are available on our web site, we maintain a notice board in the Bruce Peninsula Press to advise the public of upcoming and current affairs. We are probably one of the few municpalities in the Province that has their minutes printed almost in their entirety in the local newspaper. We realize that publication of minutes is sometimes delayed but proper processes must be followed in terms of preparation, approval and publication of minutes.(6)

Contacting the Public Works Manager is an effective method of keeping updated on road projects (ie. Tamarac road). In fact, any questions concerning the status of any matter can be directed to the appropriate staff member(7) at any time by telephone, memo, email or personal contact.

We attempt to give as much notice as possible concerning the intended date of passing of by-laws. However, it is correct that sometimes the draft by-law in not available until the Friday before a meeting.(8) Perhaps a future goal for us could be to have such by-laws prepared a couple of weeks in advance.

The letter directed to your group by Clerk Kathryn Smyth did address the matter of streetlighting and indicated that the Stokes Bay Community Centre and the municipality was satisfied withthe current arrangement. The grant paid to this group was increased by Council this year and as I explained to Mr. Fortune during our telephone conversation, there are certain benefits to the municipality not becoming totally responsible or assuming ownership of this lighting system. (9) The streetlighting systems in Tobermory and Lion’s Head were owned by the municipalities upon amalgamation while Stokes Bay was not in municipal ownership.

Free dump day was started as a pilot project last year. Staff will be presenting a recommendation to Council in the near future concerning the possibility of holding the event again this year. (10)

I hope that this letter has addressed at least some of the concerns contained in Mr. Fortune’s letter. At any time I would be pleased to discuss any of these issues with you.

Yours truly,

Cathy Robins, A.M.C.T.
Chief Administrative Officer

Cr

Cc:  Mr. Reg Fortune
       Mayor Milt McIver
       Members of Council
       Municipal Staff


  1. Neither does she or Council
  2. 3 wks to determine how issue is being handled
  3. Has Keeso signed draft agreement re hours & days & months of operation, policing, etc.?
  4. When will truck traffic & construction start? Has he paid toward road improvements? When will Tamarac Road be paved? Our group wants to receive 30 day notice of public meetings so we can be assured of representation.
  5. What is Mayor & Council opinion
  6. Items of magnitude ie. Budget req min of 30 days from publish date of draft to anticipated adoption.
  7. We have no luck with CAO & Mayor would this be different?
  8. Bull! We demand minimum 30 day notific.
  9. What are they?
  10. separate letter

Expectations
Letters to Mayor & Council should be addressed back promptly after discussion at Council meetings. CAO & others to author & respond only after being directed by Council, and such response should advise of such direction. Initial response should be received no later than 7 days following Council meeting.

      Printer friendly version