Year: 2012

The 11th Snowarama Pancake Breakfast was held under sunny winter skies on Saturday, February 4, at the Riverside Heights Recreation Hall, followed by a 68 kilometre snowmobile run. The annual fun event is organized by the Dundas County District Council of the Easter Seal Society of Ontario, under the leadership of Jean MacDougal, who first began putting Snowaramas together 16 years ago with the Rotary Club. “The weather was a concern right up until the last minute,” MacDougal said, “but it finally co-operated. Conditions were ideal.”

“This year,” said Deanna MacKillican, administrator of the Dundas Council, “we are very pleased that the Snowarama was able to raise $4,207.50 for our kids.”

Several snowmobilers from four major clubs, the South Dundas Snowmobile Club, the Winchester Snowmobile Club, the Finch Northstars and the Mountain Trailblazers, were among the supporters of the Easter Seal event. Breakfast was served up to a large crowd by Scott Robinson, assisted by volunteers from the Brewers Hockey Team. A display of vintage snowmobiles, some dating to the 1960s, brought down from Ingleside, generated much interest among visitors.

“An event like this Snowarama helps kids with special needs so much,” McKillican said. “The funds we raise go to the Easter Seal Society, but they are filtered back to our local area when local children need help.”

 “Fund raisers support the specially equipped Camp Merrywood and Camp Woodeden, where disabled kids can easily participate in all kinds of activities,” added Ian McLaughlin, chair of the Dundas Council. “The money is also used for the purchase of necessities like wheel chairs and communication tools.”

 This year, the trophy for First Time Participant went to Chris MacMillan, while the South Dundas Snowmobile Club was honoured for raising the most pledges. 

Adding to the enjoyment of visitors to the 2012 Snowarama was the newly constructed Riverside Heights community ice rink. Built by local volunteers, using wood donated by Brian Cox, families could also take in some free skating.

[…]

South Dundas Treasurer, Shannon Geraghty prepared the Treasurer’s Statement of Remuneration and Expenses for the February 7th South Dundas council meeting.

According to Geraghty’s report, the total for 2011 is $107,731.99, which he confirmed is approximately 15.5 per cent higher than 2010.

In 2010, the amount was reported to be $92,240.53.

Geraghty said, “we went with a new pay calculation” for 2011. In 2010, he said, council members were paid $100 for meetings and $75 for sub-committee meetings. In 2011, however, meetings were “built into the honorarium.” This, he said, explains why meeting expenses decreased for 2011 while honorarium increased for 2011.

In addition, Geraghty pointed to the increase in professional development expenses, due to “a new council.”

Each member’s total included monies for remuneration, honourarium, mileage, as well as conferences and trade shows. Mayor Steven Byvelds, however, did not claim anything for mileage.

Byvelds had a reported total of $25,419.97, while Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke had a reported total of $19,843.84. Reported totals for each of the three councillors are as follows: $21,437.43 for Councillor Evonne Delegarde; $20,288.21 for Councillor Jim Graham; and, $20,742.54 for Councillor Archie Mellan.

[…]

On January 17th, South Dundas council was visited by Marie-Eve LaRocque of The Economic Development and Employability Network of Ontario (RDEE Ontario) and Danika Bourgeois-Desnoyers of Place aux Jeunes Ontario – SDG.

LaRocque and Bourgeois-Desnoyers introduced council to their “newest project” called Place aux Jeunes Ontario – SDG, which means Make-Way-for-Youth SDG. The project “aims to promote and facilitate the integration of bilingual post-secondary graduates in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.”

As Bourgeois-Desnoyers pointed out, “studies and statistics show youth have the tendency to leave after high school and they don’t come back.”

She went on to explain that the project, Make-Way-for-Youth SDG, has two components: Discovery Days for youth aged 18 to 35; and, Teens Place aux Jeunes for youth aged 14 to 17.

Discovery Days  provides young adult professionals with several opportunities: “training workshops, meetings with potential employers, and discover of different attractions in the area.”

Teens Place aux Jeunes provides bilingual teens to take part in activities that reinforce their “feeling of belonging to their native region.”

The objective behind the project is to strengthen rural communities by preventing “out-migration of youth,” as well as by “attracting young professionals to settle in the region,” and by promoting “the integration  of bilingual young graduates in the region.”

According to LaRocque’s presentation, RDEE “is the only national network which specifically supports economic development of francophone minorities in Canada.”

Funding for the shared project,  Make-Way-for-Youth SDG, comes from the Fondation franco-ontarienne and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Following the presentation, Mayor Steven Byvelds thanked both LaRocque and Bourgeois-Desnoyers for coming. 

“There’s not a lot of francophone in the region,” he said. 

“It’s certainly interesting,” he added.

[…]

[…]

At the January 17th South Dundas council meeting, Councillor Archie Mellan inquired about the status of the new generator for Williamsburg. 

“With the power outage on Friday (Jan. 13),” he said, “I’m just wondering where we are on this?” 

With no answers forthcoming, South Dundas Manger of Public Works, Hugh Garlough, volunteered to oversee the situation.

[…]

At the January 17th South Dundas council meeting, council members unanimously agreed to support the city of Waterloo in a resolution intent on making the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) accountable for assessment delays, which result in lost tax revenue.

The decision came in response to a letter sent by the city of Waterloo to municipalities throughout Ontario requesting that they “endorse the City of Waterloo’s resolution and forward their endorsement to the Premier of Ontario, Minister of Finance, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.”

The resolution itself requests action from the provincial government and from MPAC to improve services.

The letter stated that “the city of Waterloo has experienced a loss in tax revenue because MPAC appeared not to have sufficient resources at the local level to systematically ensure all assessments are retroactively applied for the current and two prior taxation years in a timely manner. In this one instance, the city of Waterloo lost approximately $20,000 in tax revenue.”

South Dundas treasurer Shannon Geraghty responded to the letter, saying “I think we experience the same frustration they do.”

“Having these assessments in a timely manner would be better for the township,” he added.

Council agreed that MPAC is not working quickly or efficiently. “They seem to be running on their own time,” said Councillor Archie Mellan.

Mayor Steven Byvelds wrapped up the discussion, saying, “I support the resolution too. They (MPAC) need a little reassurance that they are not doing their job.” 

“Invoices like this get way behind,” he continued, adding, “I do find it ironic since MPAC is paid out of our taxes.”

[…]

The formerly named Station Road which leads to the CNR tracks north of Morrisburg has gotten a new name, Jones Road.

At the January 17th South Dundas council meeting, Hugh Garlough, Manager of Public Works, recommended that council change the name based on a recent review of township road maps and by-laws.

Garlough explained, “we found out this road was named Station Road by the Village of Morrisburg in 1960. This conflicts with Station Road in Iroquois as well as Marine Station Road in Matilda.”

Jones Road is named after Eddie Jones who, according to Garlough, worked for the CNR before and after  the Seaway Project. 

[…]

 Don Lewis, Manager of Planning and Enforcement for South Dundas, raised the issue of “sign pollution” at the January 17th council meeting.

Discussion over the portable signs in Morrisburg and Iroquois revolved around three main concerns: visual aesthetics; road hazards; and, fairness in advertising.

“My main concern,” said Mayor Steven Byvelds, “is sign pollution.”

However, he also pointed out that “we’re spending over two grand to do our own signs.”

“Right now,” he continued, “we’re not equal. We allow whatever goes on.”

He suggested that staff “come up with a policy on signs.” The policy, it was pointed out, would have to be in conjunction with procedures at the County level since many of the signs are situated on county roads.

Both Councillors Jim Graham and Evonne Delegarde expressed concern for public safety. “A lot of those signs are obstructing drivers from seeing,” said Delegarde.

Graham added, “if you can cut down on sign pollution, you’re making it safer.”

Deputy-mayor Jim Locke had “mixed feelings,” but agreed with the rest of council that signs should be “kept up and back from the road.”

Byvelds encouraged Lewis “to find a solution to this problem.”

He closed the subject, saying, “I think we need some direction. I’m going to bring it up until I see some action.”

[…]

The issue of who is responsible for removing snow at the new subdivision, Doran Creek Estates in Iroquois, is not yet resolved.

At the January 17th South Dundas council meeting, Councillor Evonne Delegarde put forth a motion “that we reconsider the snow cleaning at Doran Creek Estates.”

The motion was seconded by Deputy-mayor Jim Locke. “My feelings are well known and haven’t changed,” said Locke. He also suggested, however, that both parties sit down together in an effort to find a compromise.

“Nothing against Mr. Swank. He’s done a wonderful job,” said Councillor Jim Graham, but “it’s the policy we have with developments and it’s that we don’t take over roads until they’re done. If we do it for Swank, we’ll have to do it for others.”

In addition, he pointed out that “if we’re taking responsibility for them, we’re also accepting liability.”

Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “the time for this discussion was when the township and Mr. Swank made the agreement.”

He agreed with Graham, saying, “it’s not our road. We do not have title to it.”

In the end, it was decided that council would defer making a ruling. Staff was asked to bring a report to the next meeting.

[…]