REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING - MAR. 4/14 Advance apologies for the length of this. Construction season approaches and (expensive) action deferred in the past (some needlessly) and new projects have caught up with council. Also a policy update was presented for approval. In fact the Agenda was so large that not all reports could be posted on website. Comment/opinions expressed are my own and not intended to reflect those of any other individual/group. Budget meeting scheduled for tonight postponed to Mar. 25. At a guess this was done to coincide with the announcement of one time funds transfer from Province. All Councillors present / An interesting statement from the Aeration Blower study - ...Town of Espanolas Official Plan, it appears the Town will undergo a declining population over the next 20 years. / To avoid repetition - several high value projects brought forward tonight were justified at least in part on the high and increasing hydro cost and potential savings. Hydro rate increases of 50% over 5 years are predicted. Savings estimates overall are conservative in spite of those predictions. This IMO is reasonable as we all hope that rates stabilize but probably not a good bet. Also suppliers present equipment performance as best case. A point of interest - Espanola hydro is responsible for only 25% of hydro costs. The balance comes down to senior government however the portion attributable to each government level was not given. Nor does it appear anybody asked if Espanola Hydro operates in efficient/economical fashion. Even at 25% that is $225 on $900 hydro bill that people are reporting they received. / BLOWER REPLACEMENT - SEWAGE PLANT This project is paid by user fees, not taxes. Present units installed in 1995 and typical life cycle is 30-40 years. Replacement has potential for significant hydro cost reduction. There are 3 blowers with 2 operating at any one time and other as backup. It was proposed to replace the 2 operating units. Estimated completion time is 8 months as it is contingent on blower delivery. Two different type blowers considered. Projected hydro savings estimate is over 15 years. Hydro rate estimates are conservative so actual savings may be greater. OPA funding is available but only for 2014 so deferral would cost +$50K. The invest amount below reflects that funding. APG - invest $217K. After investment payback then hydro savings of $519K PD - invest $97K. After investment payback then hydro savings of $472K PW and engineers recommended purchase of the APG units in light of increased hydro savings. All blowers have a life cycle of 15 years but this is also considered conservative. After minimal discussion (warranty and spare parts) this passed with unanimous support. / FINANCING OF GEOTUBES Detailed engineering incomplete, Current estimate - $386K Total cost of project could be $528K with a range of financing at $425-445K. This was a request for council to decide how project is to be financed. This project is also paid by user fees, not taxes. Same taxpayer using the other pocket. Presently sludge is trucked to Vale tailings but this ends in 2014. Council have known this needed addressing for several years and deferred even the engineering despite staff pointing out a solution was a must do. As a result engineering is only now underway and current project estimate = $386K. It is certain that deferrals increased overall project cost. Project approved with unanimous support/minimal discussion. It will be paid for using Environmental Department Reserves and not impact taxes. / LED STREET LIGHT PROPOSAL Investment - $384K This has increased from first desktop estimate after complete streetlight inventory identified +20 more lights than original proposal. Proposal reflects replacing 40% of arms. Reduction of arms needed would reduce overall project cost/increase payback. The motion from the Agenda - The municipality enter into an agreement with Real Term Energy and LAS (Local Authority Services) for a design, upgrade, and transfer contract to convert the municipality’s streetlight to the LED as proposed. Three options presented by Staff - -Fund project through Reserves and Gas Tax. -Finance through such as Infrastructure Ontario (lower finance charges) -Enter into agreement with LAS (as per motion) who would finance 100% and then share hydro savings with Town. Many other communities have chosen the LAS option which results in no municipal capital investment. Considering our infrastructure deficit this should be carefully considered. There are many other projects that will need direct taxpayer funding. Financing option chosen dictates potential yearly hydro savings. Several questions raised such as possible high bulb replacement cost if all lights replaced at same time - bulbs may all fail at same time more or less. This is cold lighting so will snow have to be cleared from fixtures as is rumoured to have been done elsewhere? Additionally LAS is using variable rather than a fixed interest rate which may increase overall cost. Deferred decision. Council has requested LAS attend next meeting to address questions. Ill add a couple of suggestions - -LED installed at Complex parking lot. Council did inquire if this project reduced hydro costs - it has - however the rest of the question needs asking - did the project reduce consumption by the predicted amount? -Might it be advantageous if council suggested that where feasible - Complex lot? - timers be installed and lights turned off say after 1AM? That area is well lit from street and school. IMO there is no cheaper electricity cost than fixtures turned off. / CULVERT DESIGN CONTRACT Request - $39,800 From Agenda - PWD proceed with EXP’s design proposal of Bois Street Culvert, Nelson Creek Culvert and Bass Lake Road Culvert. These culverts plus Hwy. 6 were inspected in 2012 and found in poor condition and replacement required in 1-2 years. Another example of councils/staff ignoring infrastructure in favour of more eye catching projects or wants? Estimated project cost (2012) Bois - $211K Nelson - $144K Bass - $223K Original plan was to carry out design of only Bois St. culvert - PW budgeted $20K. Original estimate to design all three was $56K. Combining design work in one contract reduces actual cost to $39,800. To delay probably would also increase design costs. Council approved funding for full design work - a no brainer. This will be added to 2014 budget. / RESERVE/RESERVE FUNDS POLICY UPDATE I dreaded what the gallery might endure when this appeared on Agenda. And indeed we got the expected and usual rambling sermon and lost train of thought. This is part of the long overdue process of improving Town financial reporting and analysis systems. As regulars know we have at least one, perhaps too long a serving, councillor who previously stated he cant find anybody to tell him why we need Reserves. He repeated it again tonight. To quote the CAO report - Adequate reserve balances can provide financial flexibility, mitigate risk, weather uncertainty and ensure the ongoing financial stability of the Corporation The Asset Management Plan has identified the need for Reserves to fund.... The amount needed in Reserves is debatable however Municipal Affairs provides the only true measure. They rank municipalities risk level based on Reserves as a Percentage of Operating Expenses. (Quotes from CAO report) Espanola Risk History 2010 - High risk 2011 + 12 - Moderate risk 2013 - Should rank Low Risk however reserves are artificially high because taxes collected and Gas Tax funding for Hwy. 6 were placed there when project was deferred. First draft 2014 budget indicates year end Reserves to be below 2013 levels. (Note - Municipal Affairs representative when highlighting previous grading told council that Cadillac Services provided by Town impacted Reserves and operating costs) Basically the Reserve Policy will identify Discretionary and Obligatory reserves and then further segregate and restrict those to specific purposes. An example is the current designation Transportation which would be broken down further into specifics and identify the reserve funds allocated for Roads, Building, Equipment etc. Question - with establishing a Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve which would protect taxpayers from one-time uncontrollable increases in tax rates would this council have been able to use $190K from Reserves to reduce a tax increase because they didnt want to do their job? Perhaps that would have been one of the many times they should have told taxpayers that residential taxes were being increased to make up the anticipated loss of revenue from Domtar assessment. Then they might have been forced to do their job. However popularity came first. The councillor who suggested using Reserves to reduce that tax rate increase is the same one who doesnt know why we need Reserves. He supported the motions tonight to use Reserves to pay for Blowers. He has supported previous budgets that created Reserves. He also supported the Police Board request to place 2013 surplus into a Reserve. Could he make up his mind please? Without the Reserves sewer/water rates may have increased significantly to finance the projects he supported tonight. It appears he knows what Reserves are for when he needs to. Policy approved. Again the Mayor didnt call for opposed but one hand was not raised in support. Odd that, as this is just a policy and in no way increases Reserves. / RATES OF PAY POLICY For those who reviewed Agenda there were misprints. This applies to student wage rates. Previously Espanola paid $1.00/hr over minimum wage. With the recent increase in MW this policy is ended. The MW rate is now close to the towns previous hourly rate for students. Students will now be paid minimum wage. Council could have done this several years ago when they were penny pinching and mused about crossing guards and the Care Van. Now they dont have to make a perhaps unpopular decision. For the Councillor who last night said they had always been against the old policy - why didnt you bring a motion forward in the past? Approved. / WALL OF FAME POLICY CHANGE The induction ceremony will be held every 4 years and limited to 4 inductees. This will reduce staff time (cost) to organize and should improve attendance as evidenced by the 2013 ceremony, the first since 2008. Approved / HIGHWAY 6 RENAMING PROPOSAL Be It Resolved That: Council supports The Royal Canadian Legion’s request to MTO to rename Hwy 6 (Junction of 17 & 6 to Little Current) to LaCloche Foothills Veterans Memorial Highway. Unanimous support. Let us hope this Legion initiative to honour our well deserving veterans succeeds! One councillor thought the name was too long. / HYDRO RATES Council passed a motion requesting province not allow hydro rates to increase so that business and vulnerable residents are not overburdened with costs. I thought it a bit unfair they didnt include all residents as being affected by these increases. Ill add that with the Global Adjustment Charge a councillor mentioned and its tie to contracts for power supply somebody still has to pay the cost. That would be either the taxpayer or the hydro user. Ooops, they are the same people. Passed unanimously. We can all hope, insulate, live in the dark, do laundry at night, BBQ........ / LIABILITY INSURANCE Council passed a motion requesting Province review legislation and take steps to alleviate the crisis in rising municipal insurance costs. This is due to unjust liability allotment and increasing litigation and claim costs. This crisis has been building for a long period. It will take some time to develop and pass legislation to correct - if it can be corrected. No discussion of Espanola insurance costs. We do know that taxpayers (not insurance) are paying settlement costs of at least one lawsuit - minimum $88K which as usual council never mentioned and buried in an obscure area of budget. Passed unanimously / POLICE BOARD REPORT - Jan./14 Accepted without comment. No mention by the councillors who sit on Board if contract negotiations had yet begun or even if Police Service had indicated they were willing to begin. No questions raised whether process of discussing providing police service to other municipalities had started. The PSB minutes indicate that one board member, Chief and Deputy were appointed to a committee to deal with that. I thought council as a whole would ask if one of the two councillors on the Board should also serve on the committee. It seems to me that unless they hire extra officers then service to Espanola citizens may change and council should be in the loop. It is council in the end who are responsible to the taxpayer. / VERBAL REPORTS -The announcement of the one time transfer of funds from Province to help alleviate the situation with Domtar assessment is still on track to be made at the next meeting. -Representatives met with Minister of Transportation. Town is refusing to pay any portion of Hwy. #6 culvert. The MoT have asked for copy of engineering report to review. The ongoing and ridiculous saga and lack of progress may be affected by a spring election. -A meeting was held with Minister responsible for MNR to express displeasure at relocating jobs to Sudbury and further away from the area of responsibility - how dumb can it get? The minister listened but made no comment. Again, a spring election could impact this. -A councillor noted the significant increase in Complex (pool) use in February as compared to February 2013. Im not sure just who he was trying to credit for that? Nor was it clear if any significant portion of increase was due to the private rental of facility on Family Day. Another councillor reported on the success of that well attended event organized and paid for by a local church. / Easy to tell it is an election year. More than the usual amount of time wasted on gratuitous self congratulations and maybe even a little sucking up. Get on with the job please, the voters will decide in October. / By chance today I spoke to a very senior representative of a national financial institution. I shared the councillors quote with him - I cant find anybody to tell me why we need Reserves To describe his reaction as being stunned at that from an elected official with a financial background is an understatement. When he got past the part where I assured him it was an accurate quote repeated over the past several years what he had to say cant be repeated on family internet. Didnt do my phone a lot of good actually. Known him for years yet I didnt know he knew those words.\ / Thank you for your patience with this long post.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:40:27 +0000
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