February 2010 Minutes

Village of Chester
Regular Monthly Meeting –February 10, 2010

Minutes



Present:
Bill Zinck Jr., Phil Ellwood, Brenda Mulrooney and Jo-Ann Grant
Regrets: Mike Heisler and Iris Tolliver
There were 14 members of the public present.

Additions to the agenda.
Brenda Mulrooney wished to add Garbage Pick up to New Business

Minutes from the previous meeting:
Jo-Ann Grant noted two corrections to January 13 minutes. Brenda Mulrooney moved to adopt the minutes as a amended, seconded by Mike Heisler. All were in favor.


Old Business:

Lido Pool/Public Washrooms update
Brenda Mulrooney reported that she has been notified that the Department of Transportation will be fast tracking our application to purchase the portion of the old Shore Road in the vicinity of the new Public Washroom. She is unsure of the status of the land owned by the Municipality. The property lines will need to be erased and then we will be granted the necessary permits to start the project.

Village Water System
Jo-Ann Grant spoke with Jeff MacDonald who advised her that a Municipal staff member is compiling a report and he will contact her again when the report has been completed.

New Fire Truck
Blake Corkum presented a report to the Commission for review as per the request made to the Fire Department during January’s meeting.

Village of Chester Logo Contest
Jo-Ann Grant made a motion for the Village of Chester Commission to sponsor a contest to design a logo for the Village of Chester. The contest will be open to year round and seasonal residents of all ages as well as owners of businesses within the Village boundaries. Winners will be chosen on design elements that may be enhanced by a professional graphic artist and by ease of reproduction. Contest winners will be awarded a prize determined by the Village Commission. The motion was seconded by Phil Elwood and all were in favor. Deadline for the entries will be March 31, 2010. It was also suggested that members of the community be chosen to help judge the entries. (Judges will be exempt from the contest).


New Business:
Health Resource Centre
Bill Zinck opened the floor for a presentation from Bob St. Laurent who was accompanied by Lara Parsons. A letter had previously been sent to the Commission requesting funding, but it was learned that the Commission would be unable to give any assistance. Mr. St. Laurent explained what is occurring in health care within the Village. It was noted that there has always been a shortage of health care. A number of people do not have a physician, not just in our community but right across the country. Soreham citizen group has been in partnership with South Shore Health who has been aggressively seeking to recruit physicians. There is one new physician on staff and another is coming in March and possibly another in a couple of months. Health care delivery is changing rapidly. One issue that has proved beneficial where there is a shortage of physician is to have a nurse practitioner (NP). South Shore Health has been successful in recruiting an NP for Chester. Physicians working in conjunction with an NP is the way of the future. The population of Nova Scotia is going down and there is more work than workers. Looking at what we can do in our community and the Municipality to enhance the ability of people to pick Chester to come to live in, what we need are young families to live in Chester. This is the first step to a larger vision and is critical to how primary health care is to be available in the future. The Municipality of Chester generously gave funding last fall to make internal renovations to the Health Resource Centre to accommodate the Nurse Practitioner, Nancy MacDonald, who is currently there. We have come tonight to ask the Commission for funding that would assist the group and Shoreham Apartment Association, who currently own the Health Resource Center, to expand it and provide office space for a physician who would agree to working in a collaborative practice with the NP in that building; as well as an additional space for a Registered Nurse. The amount needed to complete this project is $25,000.00, having already received 71% of the total project in money and in kind donations.
Bill Zinck asked if there were questions from the audience.

Q. What is the reason the Village Commission is not able to offer a grant to the project.
A. The Municipal Government Act is explicit on what a Commission can spend money on. They cannot give grants, loan or spend moneyo in a building it does not own.

Q. Why is it that the Municipality was able to give money to the project?
A. The Municipality is guided by different restriction.

Q. The example of the EMC building was raised.
A. They EMC building is owned by the Commission.

The Commission thanked Mr. St. Laurent for the presentation and for making them and the audience aware of this worthwhile project.

Garbage Pick Up
A request has been made to the Village Commission for weekly garbage pick-up for the months of July and August. At issue in particular is the odor from the Green Bins. Some communities have approached the Garbage Collectors to have their garbage picked up weekly during those months and billed separately for the extra run. Green bins only was discussed but the concern is that summer residents are not always aware of when their garbage day is or they leave the week before their scheduled day and so garbage is left at the side of the road for over 7 days. It was decided to look at the price of the service and discuss it at next month’s meeting.


Correspondence
In the absence of the Clerk Treasurer, there was no correspondence read.


Fire Chief’s Report
“Since the last commission meeting on Jan. 13/10, I have logged in 67 hours in callouts, meetings and fire department business. I am pleased to report that we have had a very quiet month with only 4 callouts consisting of 2 chimney related fires and 2 practices.
We have not heard any word on our application for assistance with equipment purchases through the Emergency Services Provider Fund. I have been holding off on the purchase of our air packs with the hopes of getting some government money but time is running out and the packs will be ordered this week.”

Truck Report
No report.

Ladies Auxiliary Report:
No report.

Fire Advisory Report:
Bill Zinck Jr announced the next meeting date.

Financial Report:
In the absence of the Clerk Treasurer, there was no financial report.

Questions
-There was a question about participation in the Logo Contest. Anyone who submits an entry will not be eligible to judge the contest.
-Brad Armstrong commented on the Garbage pick-up. Whynott’s General Trucking will pick up individual green bins for a fee of $10 as an option. He pointed out that picking the garbage up twice as often will result in twice the cost on taxes.
-There were several questions concerning the Water Supply in the Village. Spectacle Lake has been identified as an excellent source. A report is being compiled and will be published when it is complete. There are monies budgeted regularly to the issue and has been ongoing since 1967. There was concern that the public would have input. Mr. Armstrong explained there is a long term plan in place that could take 10-15 years to come to fruition. The Municipality will soon be looking for individuals to sit on a newly formed committee. The question was asked whether there was any other community in the area with a similar population that does not have its own water supply. It is believed that there is not. Reports written show the project has been studied for more than 40 years and still there has been nothing done. It is estimated that every business in Chester is trucking water in weekly. The cost for a system to treat salt water for domestic use is in the area of $40k. It was agreed that there is a need to move forward quickly. Water supply from private wells is also in shorter supply. There are individuals who are dedicated to the moving forward. The next step is to come up with time lines and then set the process in motion. Another question as to whether other option, aside from Spectacle Lake have been considered. Again it comes down to the issue of money. The cost to tax payers for a water system in the Village could be as much as a 6-7 thousand dollar increase in individual taxes. Since half of the residents in Chester have their own wells, this continues to be a concern. It was pointed out that funds from the Federal and Provincial governments would help in deferring the cost to the rate payers.
- A final question was about a safety fence around the Lido. The fence is in the plans and a part of the ongoing plans.


The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm.



William Zinck Jr_______________________________Iris Tolliver______________________
Chairperson Clerk/Treasurer



*********Clerk Treasurer was not present that the meeting. The minutes made from a recording of the meeting.************