[0:00] Everyone call the meeting to order. Please be aware R&B council meetings are

[0:05] livereamed to facebook.com black forward slpass pi live stream

[0:12] comments are not monitored during real time.

[0:15] During the council meeting visitors please remember to sign in. Thank you.

[0:21] In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge that the land upon which our

[0:25] organization stands is unseated Migma territories. We pay our respects to the

[0:31] indigenous Migma people.

[0:35] I missed the line. Abu Migmaki is covered by the historic treaties of

[0:42] peace and friendship. We pay our respects to the indigenous Mikmma people

[0:45] who have occupied this land for over 12,000 years, past, present, and future.

[0:53] Do any members of council have a conflict of interest with any items on

[0:57] today's agenda? >> I just wanted to note councelor Carter

[1:02] is not here, but she would be in conflict of interest on uh item 22.

[1:08] » It's actually it's 21. >> Oh, is it?

[1:11] » Yeah. Continue Canada post operation in Bel 21.

[1:15] » 21. >> Yeah.

[1:16] » Okay. I'll make note in the minutes. uh she would have had to uh declare that

[1:21] next meeting. So this saves her from doing that.

[1:27] » Are there any other suggested agenda items for today's meeting to be placed?

[1:33] » Sorry. Yeah. I would like to combine 22 and 20 in efforts of saving time this

[1:38] evening. >> Yes.

[1:42] » Um I would also if that do we need a motion for that or no?

[1:47] » No. >> Okay. Um, I'd like to make a motion that

[1:50] we defer items 24, 25, and 26 to the September meeting. Um, and um, for

[1:57] everyone here in the live stream, the reason is that um, councelor Mcurban

[2:01] called for that um, in camera session and she's unable to be there tonight.

[2:09] » Um, on that one, does anybody have a problem with that?

[2:12] » No. >> Okay.

[2:14] Mr. >> I also have an item. Council McGvern, as

[2:20] you know, is not able to be here tonight. She has a personal matter uh

[2:25] that she's unable to attend and has asked that we request an excused absence

[2:31] for her. >> So, that'll be near the end.

[2:35] » Yes. >> I'm 23.

[2:41] Um, do we need a mover and a seconder for Katherine's motions?

[2:46] » Uh, no. We just needed u mover and a seconder as amended on

[2:52] number three. >> All move. I'll second.

[2:59] » All in favor?

[3:03] » Naz. Motion carried. RCMP report for the

[3:08] month of July, Ashel. >> Okay, so our incident rate is down

[3:13] slightly and is still the lowest in Eastern Kings. Uh even with the

[3:18] additional guests visiting our island, uh traffic um with with with increased

[3:23] traffic, our municipality continues to maintain respectable numbers. Uh for

[3:28] access to detailed RCMP reports, you can visit the R&B website, www.

[3:35] uh rural municipality of Belfast.com. Thank you.

[3:40] » Thank you, Ashley. Uh public presentations, if any members

[3:44] of the public are offered five minutes to make a presentation to council.

[3:48] Reminder, should any member of the public wish to speak on any issue on

[3:52] today's agenda, this is the time to all other agenda items are reserved for

[3:58] council participation. Are there any public presentations?

[4:03] We did have uh Kier White who had requested to mention something but he's

[4:08] not here to be in the queue. >> We will push that to September. I'll

[4:14] email him. >> Okay. Adoption of the July 15, 2026

[4:20] council meeting minutes attached previously distributed. All suggested

[4:25] changes have already been incorporated. May I have a mover and a secondary to

[4:29] approve the minutes of the July 15th, 2026 council meeting as presented?

[4:36] » Moved by L. Second. >> I'll second by Cafe. All in favor?

[4:41] » Naz. Motion carried.

[4:47] Uh, adoption of the July 22nd DAO subcommittee meeting minutes attached on

[4:56] this council agenda for approval of the

[4:59] subcommittee members only as no other CEO subcommittee meetings are planned at

[5:04] this time. So, the only three voting members on this uh here today would be

[5:10] Jim, Katherine, Glenn, and myself. May I have a mover and a second to

[5:16] approve the minutes of the July 22, 2026 EAO subcommittee as attached previous

[5:23] and presented? >> Yeah, one of you

[5:28] » moved by Lynn seconder.

[5:33] » Oh, I'll second. >> All in favor?

[5:38] » I I'm still reading it. We're not discussing that.

[5:44] » Oh, we're not discussing this. >> No,

[5:46] » no, we're going to do that in September. >> Yeah.

[5:49] » Yeah. >> N

[5:54] motion carried. Adoption of the July 30th, 2026 special

[6:01] council meeting minutes. Attached is distributed. All suggested changes

[6:06] already incorporated. May I have a mover and a seconder? to

[6:12] approve the minutes of the July 30th, 2026 special council meeting as

[6:18] presented on the move by Billy. Seconder >> second.

[6:21] » Um >> Lynn

[6:24] is I I >> All in favor?

[6:27] » I don't see the item in there that they're going to return that money.

[6:33] » Yes. >> Is that in there somewhere?

[6:35] » It is in the the financial plan that we've provided.

[6:40] I think it was it was in something that we do remember seeing it.

[6:46] » Yeah, it was the the approved financial plan that we gave to finance PBS.

[6:51] » It was it was it might not be in these minutes, but it's within this bylaw.

[6:56] » Right. >> So, we passed that bylaw and it does say

[6:58] that specifically inside. >> Yeah. Yeah.

[7:02] » Correct. >> Yeah.

[7:04] All in favor to move the 20 August 5th, 2026 special council meeting minutes.

[7:12] » All move second. >> All in favors.

[7:20] Motion carries. CEO reports. Bob Brooks. Thank you

[7:26] worship. Uh everything is on track uh for our um expenditures and all the

[7:34] community grants now are all paid with the exception of the monthly ongoing to

[7:40] the fire hall and the um community fancy fe. So they were all actually paid out

[7:47] early. And uh I also just to let you know I had a discussion with our auditor

[7:54] this morning. everything's on track for her to

[7:59] have a discussion with myself and Ashley within the next couple weeks. So, we'll

[8:03] be able to put the audited financial statements on the agenda for next uh

[8:08] September. So, everything's on track and as it

[8:13] should be with the finances. >> Okay. Thank you, Bob.

[8:21] Uh 11 Belfast Rural Fire Department fireh

[8:27] hall funding update. So for the uh benefit of the uh live stream, I'll read

[8:32] it out. Um so it's the Belfast Rural Fire Department fire hall funding update

[8:38] per council's resolution resolution number 2026 decimal or002

[8:45] made during the special council meeting of August 5th. the reserve funds bylaw,

[8:50] the resolution, the financial asked, breakdown, the minutes of the council

[8:54] meeting, and RMD's latest audit financial statements were all sent to

[9:00] finance PEI. Finance PEI required those documents from RMBB so they could start

[9:06] the financing process with the Belfast Royal Fire Department for the fireh hall

[9:10] expansion project. Uh, that process is underway. Still no word regarding the

[9:17] finance application with Canada. However, our MP McDonald, his office, us

[9:23] and the fire department to continue continue to follow the process closely.

[9:28] And in fact, I uh sent off a message to um MP Kent McDonald's assistant today to

[9:36] see if he could look into any other word that might be coming. No, no word today,

[9:43] but uh they are following up for us. Uh the contractor Riley and Suns

[9:49] Construction recently confirmed that the project is on track for completion in

[9:54] this fiscal year. And also I both Joanne and I confirmed with um Finance PEI that

[10:03] all the documents have been received and finance PEI estimates that a couple more

[10:09] weeks they'll be able to have the uh documents ready.

[10:13] » Can I ask a question? >> Yeah. Um, so were Riley and Sons were

[10:17] they able to be paid? Have they been paid? Okay.

[10:20] » Yeah. So, uh, in the progress um, invoices that they've sent so far. Yes.

[10:25] » Okay. When it says here to, uh, completion

[10:30] this fiscal year, is that our fiscal year or is that January 3rd, December

[10:34] 31? >> That's the March 31 fiscal year.

[10:39] That's uh when it was confirmed that it should be the firehole project should be

[10:44] completed around that time. >> Next Maych March.

[10:48] » Yeah. >> 31 years.

[10:51] » Be a long time to meet a little building like that.

[10:54] » Well, the contractor is fairly confident that that was the timeline he was given

[10:59] and uh he says he's on track to complete it in that timeline.

[11:07] Great.

[11:10] » Okay. Well, thank you, Bob. Oh, the mayor's meeting at the pilot house.

[11:17] Okay. Provide an update on the meeting at the pilot house regarding FCM and

[11:22] PEI. No, >> FPM.

[11:24] » FPI. Yeah. Okay. I was invited to the pilot house

[11:31] um on July the 20th for a social and got there just before

[11:37] 7. I met with PEI PM

[11:44] » FIM members Lori and Bruce chatted with

[11:49] others as they arrived. uh had a meeting with Philip Brown,

[11:54] mayor of Charlotte Town, and Steve Oen of Stratford, Jeff Spencer from

[11:59] Kensington, who the deputy mayor from Rustico, uh Davidlair,

[12:06] and a counselor from your Ben Dunkers. Good.

[12:10] And uh we met with uh had a meeting with their

[12:15] MLA, Kent Dollar. he's the minister in charge

[12:20] of the MGA and things like that. >> And um we spent a couple hours there and

[12:28] there was two members from the national board, one from um Thunder Bay and

[12:35] another from Halifax shot at the same a while and had some food and came home.

[12:41] » Good job. >> Pardon? Good meeting. There was no

[12:45] meeting. Oh, I mean, yeah, just social. >> Yeah.

[12:49] » Sorry, I didn't know you were going. I bailed at the last minute. So, thank you

[12:53] for representing Belfast. >> Sure.

[12:57] » Thank you for your report, guys. >> You're welcome.

[13:01] » Okay, next. Calgary Foundation grant in and out rec center admin Ashley. Okay,

[13:09] so as reported at our last council meeting, a donor wants to submit a grant

[13:14] to the Belfast Rec Center. It needs a host to help deliver the funds. I spoke

[13:19] to the donor stewardship advisor and she hopes to have she hopes that their

[13:23] office will have paperwork for us so that the Belfast Rec Center could start

[13:27] receiving funding support in September. Um I will have another update for R&B at

[13:32] the next council meeting. That's all. That's great. Um,

[13:36] » when you say host, >> yes.

[13:38] » What's that mean? >> So, we'll be an it'll be an In-N-Out

[13:40] grant. >> Okay. Similar to the uh Arena grant,

[13:44] similar to the uh community foundation grants.

[13:48] » Okay. >> Thank you.

[13:51] » Thank you. And do we have an update on their Wood Islands Market area

[13:56] playground? Deputy Mayor, >> I can do it. You want to?

[13:59] » Yeah, I can do it. Um, so, uh, R&B staff, uh, spoke with Todd St. Claire,

[14:05] the executive director of the Wood Islands and Area Development

[14:08] Corporation, uh who suggested that R&B explore potential funding opportunities

[14:14] in 2027, um in collaboration with uh uh Widok on

[14:20] the development of a playground space here at the Wood Islands Market. Um, the

[14:24] White board is very supportive of Deputy Mayor Dockert's idea uh of her proposal

[14:30] and they would welcome the addition of a playground as a way to further enhance

[14:35] the facility and provide a new amenity for visitors and families in the in the

[14:40] community. Um, the board director, John Russo, stopped by R&B office to

[14:45] personally express uh the board's support and to thank Lynn for her

[14:48] forwardinking approach on this project. Um, as a followup, Todd St. Clair, uh,

[14:54] the executive director there contacted the insurance provider for the Wood

[14:58] Islands Market regarding the potential playground and the insurer advised, uh,

[15:03] that additional insurance costs are expected to be minimal and that the

[15:07] playground would fall under the existing policy that WDAT currently carries. Um,

[15:14] it was suggested that possibly a preliminary concept draft plan outlining

[15:19] the type of playground equipment that R&B would like to see um see in the

[15:24] space uh be brought forward and provided to their to their insurance company. Um

[15:30] that would allow them to provide a more accurate assessment of any potential

[15:34] increase to the current policy cost. Um, a further update uh will be provided to

[15:40] council in September once Lyn and I have um met with the wide act board after the

[15:46] 70 mile yard sale is over because they as you know they are quite busy with

[15:50] that at the moment. >> Yeah.

[15:52] » So that's all for now and thank you. >> Um can I ask you a couple questions

[15:57] about that? >> Sure. Um so I assume um since this is

[16:01] deputy um mayor Doerty like bringing this forward that they would be seeking

[16:06] like community grant money. Has that been a

[16:09] » We haven't talked that we're talking external grant money not through not

[16:12] through R&B at this point. It would be uh different funding streams.

[16:17] » Okay. >> Um

[16:19] » it would be Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Because yeah, again like

[16:23] this was a concern I brought forward before that just like

[16:27] » potential favoritism, right? So I just want

[16:30] » keeping it separate. >> Um I think that's the right way to go

[16:33] for this project. So >> perfect. Thank you for the

[16:36] clarification. >> Thank you for reading that because I had

[16:38] it on my phone. So >> no problem.

[16:42] » Appreciate it. a wide

[16:45] operation that they're what they're developing corporation with their own

[16:49] staff to look after a gap. Why are we involved

[16:52] support? Typically on all these kind of projects uh if they have a um buy in

[16:59] from the rural council from the municipal council then there's more

[17:03] likelihood that they can leverage that support to get other funding like as Gar

[17:09] said uh participation andor um tourism andor there are lots of

[17:17] » there's two other funding agencies but if if they get a government uh or

[17:22] municipal government buy in, then they're more likely to be supportive of

[17:26] the application. >> Yeah. So,

[17:29] » for that reason, >> shouldn't our our involvement just be

[17:32] giving them a letter of uh support? >> Well, they need uh assistance right now

[17:38] just to figure out which way they want to go. So, it may be that all we need to

[17:44] do is give a letter of support, but at this point, um there's a lot of research

[17:49] that is required. They're also not initiating this.

[17:53] » It's coming from >> right. It was an idea from our

[17:56] » Yeah. >> It's it was it's us that's presenting it

[18:00] to them. So, at this point, we should probably do the preliminaries and not

[18:04] just say here's our here's our idea. You guys collaboration.

[18:09] » It's a collaboration. Exactly. Um, and so with that being said, like if this is

[18:13] successful, I'd really love to see us working with um, BCDC as well to to try

[18:19] to do the exact same thing for them. >> Okay, great.

[18:23] » I'll add that to my notes. Thank you, Catherine.

[18:25] » Thank you. >> Absolutely.

[18:30] » You're up again. >> Okay. Getting a nurse practitioner in

[18:34] the R&B municipality. Mayor Doerty and Ashley Pest

[18:39] 18.

[18:44] » Okay. >> All right. So, uh, first of all, I want

[18:49] to thank, uh, Minister Corey Deagle for taking the time to meet with myself and

[18:54] CEO Brooks on Monday, as well as our MLA, Darlene Compton. Uh, she was also

[19:01] in attendance at the meeting. uh as well as Lisa uh Lisa uh deputy minister Lisa

[19:10] Tibu um and uh the um health PEI CEO Laurier Klinsky

[19:18] along with their respected administrative support.

[19:23] Um, I would also like like to thank the rural um the Belfast Rural Fire

[19:28] Department for providing our office with statistics prior to that meeting. Um, as

[19:34] well as the Belfast residents who showed their support, their continued support

[19:38] of this R&B initiative by commenting on our Facebook post uh last Wednesday.

[19:45] I do think it was a very positive meeting in the sense that we were able

[19:49] to reopen communication with healthi and begin reestablishing some context around

[19:56] this initiative. This, as you know, is not a new project. It was originally

[20:01] initiated and documented by our municipal office in 2021 and has gained

[20:07] some momentum as sort of a legacy project at the moment. Um the work

[20:13] undertaken over the years um has been driven by the recognition that access to

[20:19] health care is an ongoing challenge for our residents in rural communities and

[20:24] that the municipality has a role in advocating for those solutions. Um, I

[20:30] appreciated the opportunity to remind health PEI of the countless hours and

[20:34] work spearheaded by councelor Mary Mer Carlson along with Mayor Gillis, CEO Bob

[20:40] Brooks and administration. Uh, originally talks began with Andrew

[20:44] McDougall, the executive director for health PEI back in 2021.

[20:50] Um, and they showed promise at that time. However, uh the space that R&B was

[20:55] renting was not conducive to um the needs of health PEI and their

[21:00] requirements. So, the talks were put on hold.

[21:04] Um I don't want to overstate what came out of the meetings because I still have

[21:09] questions that I'm waiting on answers for. Um particularly around whether or

[21:14] not there are other healthcare initiatives maybe being considered for

[21:18] our area. Um, so I'm waiting for those responses at the moment from some of the

[21:23] parties that were in attendance. Um, I would also characterize the meeting as a

[21:29] real step in the right direction. Um, but not an outcome. So we have reopened

[21:35] the door and we are once again on the radar of health PEI. Um and uh now we

[21:42] need to see whether or not we're able to get some meaningful follow through.

[21:48] Uh the R&B space here has been offered. So we were very clear about that at the

[21:54] meeting. Um, and I even suggested, as I often do, volunteering some of my own

[22:00] personal time to support an individual who might be willing to come and assist

[22:04] our residents with their healthc care needs one day a week. Um, I think the

[22:09] residents of Belfast deserve both optimism and honesty and that's what

[22:14] that's what I can give them. If any of the other parties provide up further

[22:19] updates with permissions of course to share, I will do so at upcoming

[22:23] meetings. Uh in the efforts of full transparency from R&B office, I will be

[22:28] sharing the notes that I brought with me to that meeting on the R&B website. In

[22:34] closing, uh one of the main points that I raised is that Belfast population is

[22:40] aging and not everyone has the ability to access and navigate online resources.

[22:46] Um as a rural community, reliable internet access um can also be a

[22:52] challenge. uh in some areas. Uh this was made even more clear to me with some of

[22:58] my conversations that I've had recently with some of the residents. Uh for

[23:03] example, um I've had a 79year-old uh resident who regularly calls our

[23:10] office office and asks me if I can book her an appointment

[23:15] uh because she's been waiting for a family doctor since 2019.

[23:21] Uh so that's a powerful reminder that access to health care cannot simply

[23:26] depends depend on a person's ability to access an online resource system. Um

[23:32] they actually need somewhere to go and sit down and have a face-to-face

[23:36] conversation. Um, so our Facebook post regarding this

[23:40] issue received significant engagement and generated enough interest that ACT

[23:45] CBC reached out this afternoon and would like to have an interview with our

[23:49] office. And I'm requesting um I'm going to leave that decision with council as

[23:54] to whether or not they would like either myself or deputy mayor Derty to speak to

[23:59] the to this issue or or if you would prefer to just let this statement stand

[24:04] on its own. It's completely up to you. But I do need to let them know by

[24:08] tomorrow morning. Thank you. That's all. >> Thank you, Ashley.

[24:12] » Thanks, Ashley. >> Thank you, Ashley.

[24:13] » Okay. I was wondering I I requested that when this first came up if uh

[24:19] for the municipality to be in contact with Murray River to see what their

[24:22] experience was because they wanted to get a nurse practitioner years ago. In

[24:26] fact, they built a building and they built a space. Is there any do they have

[24:30] that? Is that underway? >> Their office was closed the last time I

[24:34] went there, Jim. So I wasn't able to get you the answers that you you've

[24:38] requested. It's on my list. So >> we did bring up the example of the

[24:44] morale uh unit and uh they had said or in that meeting the deputy minister

[24:52] talked about the fact that they were looking at all the different models and

[24:57] uh they're exploring as many alternatives as possible.

[25:01] Actually, I think it was wasn't it fin or

[25:06] LPI that was saying they had some uh knowledge of some other examples, but uh

[25:14] right now everything's up in the air. They're they're basically

[25:17] » we're just reopening the conversation and reestablishing the work that we

[25:22] started in 2021. >> Yeah.

[25:24] » So, that's where we're at. Um, and like I said, uh, we want to work

[25:28] collaboratively and we hope that, um, we can do that going forward on any other

[25:34] initiatives that may be proposed for this area. We're happy to work with, uh,

[25:38] various groups in order to achieve what we want to achieve for our residents.

[25:43] And that's where we're going to leave it today. Um, I just need to know from

[25:47] council if you would like to, you know, if you would like a CBC interview or

[25:51] not. >> Yes, please.

[25:54] I propose that Ashley be the person that talks to him or uh Ashley and Lynn

[26:00] together if if that's possible. >> Uh because they

[26:05] » don't there's multiple times that we can try

[26:10] and work around. So it could be a joint initiative.

[26:13] » It could be over the phone. I could >> absolutely I think well from the sounds

[26:17] of it it would be so we can talk about it more later as long as you're open to

[26:21] that. Yep. Yeah. >> But yeah, I'm fully in support of that.

[26:24] So, if we need a motion, I'm happy. >> No, we don't.

[26:27] » Okay. >> I had a question about the Murray River

[26:32] Clinic. I know they built those built that strip mall and put an office in

[26:37] there, but I don't think they ever got a practitioner.

[26:39] » There is a practitioner. There was a number on the door with the name of the

[26:43] practitioner. I don't I'm not sure of the hours or anything like that, but

[26:48] there is information on the door. There is information on the door whether

[26:52] or not that's up to date and whether or not that person's actually still there.

[26:57] I can't speak to that, right? So, I'm just letting you know that when I did my

[27:00] when I stopped by >> after work one day, that's what I've

[27:04] that's what I noticed because I was hoping to talk to someone in person to

[27:08] follow up on Jim's >> um questions.

[27:11] » Yes, of course. Concerns. Yeah. >> So, health PEI, I should say government,

[27:15] their their policy then is to adopt some of these Well, they're health ups. I'm

[27:19] not >> Well, are we on the line?

[27:21] » They're not there yet. >> I'm not able to speak to any of that

[27:23] right now. We don't have that information.

[27:25] » Yeah, >> they said everything's up in the air at

[27:28] the moment. >> Yeah. She's just trying to open channels

[27:31] for for these conversations. >> Yeah. But also reestablish the

[27:35] groundwork that we laid out in 2021. Not we, but specifically Mary Gillis,

[27:41] Bob Brooks, and Mary Meteor Carlson, who's a Monagu res or Monu girl? Yeah.

[27:49] So anyway, there you go. >> So these health hubs, how many of them

[27:53] are in operation now? Anybody know? >> That would be a health. something I

[27:57] could follow up with you on if you have questions that I can

[28:00] » Well, I'm just wondering if if if during their planning stages of whether or not

[28:03] there's anything down in the southeast area of the province, do they plan on

[28:07] having one down here? >> I've asked that question. I'm still

[28:11] waiting for followup. Jim,

[28:20] » anything else? >> Thank you, Ashley.

[28:23] » You're welcome. Thank you. Okay, don't go fair.

[28:26] » I won't >> uh harassment policy for MB progress to

[28:30] date. >> Oh, where are we now?

[28:34] » Okay. So, >> uh so I brought this forward last month

[28:39] since we're legally required to have one in place. It's legal. It's a legal

[28:43] requirement. Uh and subsequently sent it to council. sent the sent council the

[28:49] adopted policy that was approved and vetted by the legal for um Eastern

[28:53] Kings. Um I'm just waiting on members of council to some of you did get back to

[29:00] me. I'm still waiting on a few others to see if there were any edits or um or if

[29:06] what we were given is sufficient for us to move forward with. Um if there are no

[29:11] comments made on this tonight, I would suggest we follow up on it in September.

[29:16] But uh it it should be established since it is a legal requirement.

[29:20] » It should be on the agenda in September. Yes. Uh to pass. So we're hoping that

[29:25] anybody who has not commented on that policy, please get your comments in

[29:30] because it will be on the September agenda.

[29:33] » I particularly like the uh to have to have one. I like the uh provincial

[29:39] government's uh policy because they put in they they have a a clause in there on

[29:45] what is actually excluded from it and it's um

[29:50] from harassment management action standard reasonable actions taken by

[29:53] supervisors or employers to direct work conduct performance reviews or apply

[29:58] valid disciplinary measures do not constitute harassment and the second

[30:02] thing that they have that what is excluded is normal pressures ordinary

[30:05] everyday workplace stress and regular operation Please are included. If that's

[30:09] not in the Eastern King is what we're looking at, that's that those two items

[30:14] should be added. >> You could send those to me and I'll

[30:16] check and see if they're already in there if you'd like. If you haven't read

[30:20] through it yet, >> I read the original one,

[30:24] » which seemed reasonable to me. >> Just forward it to me, please, Jim, and

[30:27] I'll take a look for you. Thank you. >> Robert has a question.

[30:31] » Yeah, just back to you mentioned collaboration. It's great. Uh I'm just

[30:38] hoping that you would be in contact with her local MLA.

[30:41] » I have been. Yeah, she was CP initially also in 2021 on all of the initiatives

[30:47] that we started back then and she was and it was so gracious of her to lend

[30:51] her time to come to the meeting on Monday. Um and I also invited her uh to

[30:57] all of our council meetings to provide residents with updates going forward

[31:02] because we'd love to hear from her and work collaboratively.

[31:05] » Yeah. So, we thank her for that.

[31:10] » Anything else? >> Oh, see. Oh my goodness. Where are we

[31:15] now? Take a drink of water. >> Okay. Finish with the harassment policy

[31:21] discussion. >> Yeah.

[31:24] » Jim more.

[31:26] » Jim's going to send >> Yeah. No, I'm just going to send send

[31:30] the two items that are >> Okay. a new code of conduct by law for

[31:34] R&B as required by the municipal government act MGA

[31:39] at Ben Ashley. Thank you. >> I'm not trying to make more work for us.

[31:42] These are actually like legal requirements that we have to have.

[31:47] » Oh. Uh so council should be aware that R&B is legally required to have a code

[31:52] of conduct bylaw um when we do not have one in place at the moment. We do have a

[31:58] code of conduct uh but what they require is it needs to be updated on a regular

[32:03] basis and we have not updated right since we established ours originally.

[32:09] » Right. >> So uh we do have one but it's now

[32:12] required yeah >> to be updated

[32:14] » and again Eastern Kings shared their um their document with us. Uh so we can we

[32:21] can look at that and compare um and see what we may have missed or um

[32:27] » or changes. Yes. And again I am open to edits. So if you have anything that you

[32:32] would like to see in there uh within you know that's appropriate, please forward

[32:36] it to me and I can uh I can add add it to that draft.

[32:42] » So as as in the harassment policy that is uh to be on the agenda for September

[32:48] as well. Okay, thank you for that clarification because I do remember

[32:52] bringing that up. I don't know when it was last year, the year before. At some

[32:56] point, I put it on. >> Um,

[32:58] » two years ago, they said they wanted uh all the councils to make sure they

[33:04] updated their code of conduct bylaw for the current term of the council members.

[33:10] » Okay. Um, I'm happy >> Ashley, I'm happy to like lend my time

[33:17] for that as well. Um, so if you don't mind sending me the information, I can

[33:21] look that over. >> That would be great. Thank you,

[33:23] Catherine.

[33:26] » Now we're involved. >> Okay. Uh, draft letter for FBI

[33:34] for council comments. Councelor Bryson. >> Um, so this is building off of um

[33:41] previous council special council meetings I believe um regarding the fire

[33:46] department. Um so this is kind of an ongoing initiative that's been both

[33:52] municipal and provincial. Um the issue is that our fire departments

[33:59] are seeing an increased number of um first responder medical calls. um and

[34:08] they've not received an increase funding from the province in regard to that

[34:14] increased response due to decreased ambulance service. So, um this is an

[34:20] ongoing issue or an an ongoing issue that FBI has brought forward a couple

[34:25] times to various um various municipal ministers because if I recall, we've had

[34:33] four in the last two to three years. So there's been a lot of turnaround.

[34:37] There's been a lot of discussions. Um we have um Minister Kent Dollar in place

[34:43] now. So um we are continuing those um discussions with the province. So um

[34:50] what Ashley and I would drafted is just um a letter. Essentially the purpose of

[34:55] it is to um it would be sent to FBI to use throughout their discussions with

[35:01] the province. Um, and also I'm asking that we send it directly to both our MLA

[35:06] Darling Compton um, and Minister Kent Dollar and um, Premier Robert Lance. Um,

[35:13] I did see one typo in it though, just the um, that I previously missed that it

[35:19] says re um, request for increase. It says federal support. Um, I'm just

[35:24] asking that we change that to provincial.

[35:26] » Sure. >> Um, and if anyone else um, saw anything

[35:30] that they'd like changed. just had a question. Um, you had said that it was

[35:35] on the FBI agenda for a while now. Uh, have they already had some preliminary

[35:41] discussions andor if they have any >> progress?

[35:44] » Um, well, there's been ongoing, as you know, Bob, there's been ongoing

[35:48] negotiations with the province regarding the restructuring of the financing

[35:53] between the province and the municipality. Um, so it's just part of

[35:57] that ongoing negotiation. um you know timelines change. I think at one point

[36:02] we were supposed to have things finalized last year and then it got

[36:06] bumped and and things you know are continually progressing. So um just to

[36:12] provide them just concrete like I've obviously brought it up at FBI meetings

[36:17] as have multiple other municipalities. Um, but just something for them in

[36:22] writing that they can take forward to their meetings to say this is actually

[36:27] what's going on and this is what municipalities need.

[36:29] » I could actually see them coming out with two streams. Well, one uh one

[36:33] stream that talks about the uh first responder calls, medical and emergency

[36:39] calls that way and then the other one about fire protection. So, I know that

[36:44] they're having the overall one about fire protection, but uh

[36:48] » yeah, if it worked out to be two streams, that would actually be a lot

[36:52] more clear. >> Which is why this is even more timely

[36:55] that we need to get it to them because the province is currently overhauling

[36:59] how they how they finance the all of the provincial municipal um fire services.

[37:05] So, it's just kind of on both of those ends to try to get in there. And that

[37:08] being said, actually, is it um is it Minister Bliss Thompson that does EMO

[37:14] safety? Like perhaps we'll have to we'll have to look that up, but whoever um

[37:20] directly deals with fire service, we should CC them on this email as well.

[37:24] » Absolutely. >> Yeah.

[37:27] » I noticed you said uh we mentioned under I haven't seen this letter exactly, but

[37:32] you mentioned a reduction. If it's as a result of reduction of EMS circs in the

[37:36] area in Santa Paul there have been a reduction of emergency

[37:40] measures. >> Well, I think I think

[37:44] » they said they're not going to send this down here as much.

[37:46] » No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean like it's been ongoing since CO time,

[37:51] right? There's been a reduction of staff and increased calls and you know we're

[37:56] very far away. So, it's just it's harder for

[38:01] » response times are much longer. >> Exactly. So, what's happening is our

[38:05] fire department is faster, getting to those calls faster. They're feeling the

[38:11] the need to get there faster because the ambulance isn't there and they have a

[38:15] first responder bag and they've had the training. Um, so they are doing a lot

[38:19] more medical calls. Also, actually, I believe you have statistics, don't you?

[38:24] » I'm wondering I'm going to ask the fire department if it's okay if I share those

[38:29] um with you with council. Yeah, it would. Yeah, there are firm numbers.

[38:35] They were very quick to get them to us. So, we're really lucky um that they were

[38:39] able to compile them so quickly. And it does give us a window into uh how much

[38:45] time they actually deal with um spending on medical incidents um versus uh

[38:52] exactly 75 to 80% of their calls are medical.

[38:57] » Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is too, I mean, they're volunteers, whereas the

[39:01] EMS is a unionized group. I mean, they're having union troubles right now,

[39:05] but they're a unionized group. They have supports for when they're going to these

[39:09] medical calls for the they'll see. Like, I mean, they they see a lot of

[39:15] stuff sometimes and >> they don't have that uh that route to

[39:19] get, you know, any therapy or anything like that. So it is they should have

[39:24] funding with the increase that they're doing of that job.

[39:28] » Um just to clarify that the fire department does have access to separate

[39:32] therapists and your counselors or whatever the correct term is they do

[39:37] have um access to that. They've had that in place for some time. But again, you

[39:41] know, it's stretched thin. It's stretched thin. And so considering that,

[39:46] you know, whatever the statistic is, if it's 80%, 70%, even if it's 60%, that's

[39:51] a huge amount of time that's being spent on these volunteer community members

[39:56] that are, you know, seeing >> a followup

[39:58] » really really, >> you know, exactly difficult situations

[40:03] or and and you know, it's your neighbor, right? So, um it it would be nice if we

[40:09] could somehow get a a either an additional funding stream or just

[40:13] additional funds in general um just to support their initiative without

[40:18] » thing too with them being volunteers. You know, you never know who's going to

[40:22] be available and not having the EMS always available. you know, you can be

[40:26] left in a situation where there might not be firefighters that are close by

[40:30] and >> it leaves us in a a tough spot being so

[40:33] far away from because usually I think the main spot they station up at is uh

[40:38] at Busters in Cherry Valley and that's quite a ways from here

[40:42] » and the other ones would be in Mon. So, so yeah, the response time

[40:47] obviously, you know, someone in Wood Islands,

[40:50] » you're gonna get a firefighter from Wood Islands is going to get there a lot

[40:52] quicker than than driving from Cherry Valley or

[40:55] » Muse. So, >> I see their rock respons.

[41:07] » So, yeah, if we could send that, that would be

[41:10] » I think with you on the stats tomorrow. Great. Thank you.

[41:12] » Thank you. >> Okay. progress just to comment on that.

[41:16] I don't know what the fire department has planned for the building that

[41:20] they're going to empty and put into the new building, but it might be thinking

[41:26] to maybe have stopped. >> Yeah, that's a good idea. Mhm.

[41:32] » I just do a little point of reminds

[41:38] the BMS parked in a lot of times in the fire department

[41:45] inside. >> Yeah. Point. I asked couple of members

[41:49] what they're planning for. They said they don't have any plan the old

[41:52] building yet, but they're the states that you know open for

[41:59] help

[42:05] is >> okay

[42:09] number 19 Belfast days make a wish foundation.

[42:16] » Yes. I just want to give a short and sweet update. Belfast Days. Uh, the

[42:22] donations that came in for Belfast Days was $2,000

[42:26] wish. >> Good job.

[42:29] » Biggest biggest donation amount to date. >> Congratulations.

[42:32] » Yeah, very happy. >> Thank you.

[42:36] » Okay. Uh, meeting with MP Kent McDonald and Minister Valdez on August the 8th,

[42:44] Wood Island's Lighthouse. on combining um numbers

[42:49] uh 20 and 22 >> 20 and 22. So uh

[42:53] » I had the opportunity to represent the R&B um office at the Wood Islands

[42:58] Lighthouse and Heritage Museum on two recent occasions. Um on August 8th, I

[43:04] attended um a welcome and support with Kent McDonald um who was on a uh giving

[43:11] a tour to Minister Valdez uh highlighting the importance of uh the

[43:16] Lighthouse Museum and the role it plays in preserving and promoting our local

[43:20] history and heritage. I also attended uh the 150th uh birthday celebration on

[43:29] August 15th uh for our Wood Islands Lighthouse. Um joining the community and

[43:35] celebrating this important milestone and recognizing the volunteers and

[43:40] supporters uh who continued to preserve this significant piece of history. Um

[43:46] both events were wonderful and a great way to support our local heritage. Um,

[43:52] and uh, it was really nice to have the opportunity to represent this office at

[43:57] two social events in the past month. So, thank you.

[44:02] » That's all. >> Um, just to add to that, um, Mayor

[44:05] Gillis and myself also attended August 8th.

[44:08] » Yes, that's right. >> Um, and, um, I don't think you were

[44:12] there for that part, but, um, Kent was also working very hard on Minister

[44:18] Valdez on the ferry service. Okay. um because she sits on a committee that

[44:23] will ultimately be discussing and making choices um regarding funding. Um so he

[44:29] he was really working that um >> everyone was working hard.

[44:33] » Yeah, it really was. The um the lighthouse is gorgeously done over now.

[44:38] They did um Yeah, >> if you haven't gone for a tour yet, it's

[44:42] really really >> beautiful. Yeah. and they have a whole

[44:46] section on the history of the ferry and so he was working pretty hard up there

[44:50] to explain the process and the >> history. Yeah, it was a whole thing. So,

[44:55] » thank you for coming for both of you as well. Yes,

[45:00] » the continued >> post operations for in the Bell River

[45:06] PEI. >> So, for the benefit of the live stream,

[45:10] I will uh read out the uh information. It's uh item 21 is continued Canada Post

[45:16] operation in Bell River PEI. Uh, on July 20th, Canada Post sent a confirmation

[45:22] email of discussion with our mayor Garc Gillis confirming that a post office in

[45:28] your community, option one, was the preferred option for this municipality

[45:33] and that if they were unsuccessful in finding an appropriate contractor in the

[45:39] current location, Canada Post would move the postal operation to Monagu either

[45:45] temporarily or permanently. Trisha Carter and current R&B counselor. The

[45:51] previous postmaster with the post office location at their uh location of Gala

[45:58] Designs has arranged for a replacement contractor in the current location and

[46:02] is asking council's support to keep the post office operation in the current

[46:08] Bell River Post Office location and that's up for uh council discussion. The

[46:14] email uh specifically said, "Hi, Mr. Gillis, as a followup to our

[46:19] conversation yesterday, please find and close the letter of outlining a can the

[46:24] post community outreach process. During our discussion, the following

[46:28] information was shared. And I I was have to express my disappointment. They sent

[46:35] us the process letter from 2022, which had nothing to do with this one

[46:42] other than, you know, so anyway, just pissed me off.

[46:48] » Uh, anyway, um, one, uh, you confirmed that your role as mayor of Belfast

[46:54] municipality included the areas of Bell River and Wood Island. You two, you

[47:00] confirmed that as the community leader for Bell River, you selected option one,

[47:05] a post office in your community. As such, we will attempt to staff the

[47:10] postmaster role for Bell River. The successful candidate will need to meet

[47:14] Canada post requirements for the position as well as provide appropriate

[47:19] accommodations to house a post office, which is currently where they're at. Uh

[47:25] three uh finally I confirmed that if candost is unsuccessful in staffing a

[47:30] suitable candidate that can provide appropriate accommodations meeting all

[47:35] of uh candos specification. Option two which is transfer to a post office in a

[47:42] neighboring community which has been designated as the town of Monagu as a

[47:47] temporary basis may become can a post permanent solution. I look forward to

[47:52] future correspondence with you on this matter. If you have any questions,

[47:56] please feel free to contact me at your uh convenience. Thank you, Brian Hurley.

[48:02] Hand the post. Um so, should R&B council wish to pursue the option of keeping the

[48:08] Bell River office in the current location, a follow-up letter under the

[48:13] mayor's signature is recommended. And that's that's what I'm recommending that

[48:17] we do. follow-up letter suggesting that we keep the post office in the current

[48:22] location. >> Can can I just ask so this is this is

[48:26] different to what the ask from councelor Carter was though, right?

[48:31] » Correct. Council Carter, what she said is we already have a contractor in the

[48:37] current location. Yeah, >> actually it's not different. It's the

[48:39] same. Um she's saying >> we already have somebody that's there.

[48:45] uh that person has been trained already. >> Yeah.

[48:48] » And um basically if Canada Post gives the okay, they should be able to stay

[48:54] there and she's asking for a letter of support to do just that.

[48:57] » Okay. >> So are they trying to just continue the

[49:01] service or they're just they're just trying to

[49:04] » No, they're doing >> she's trying to shift who's operating.

[49:07] » Yes. >> And so is there concern that they're

[49:10] going to dissolve the post office? >> No, they they have two options.

[49:14] Okay. >> They have two options. Keep it where it

[49:17] is. >> Yeah.

[49:18] » If the uh contractor that's there is appropriate and if not they want to move

[49:23] it to Monu. Okay. >> So, we're trying to make sure they don't

[49:26] move it to Monu. Okay. >> And keep it in the current location.

[49:28] » Yeah. Sorry, I just had some confusion around.

[49:31] » They can't keep it in the current location. I would suggest that uh we

[49:34] should ask them to transfer to Elden. There's a post office there and there's

[49:37] a post. >> That wasn't an option space. They said

[49:41] one in they said if it's not uh appropriate in the current location the

[49:47] only other option is to go to Monu. As you know there is already a post office

[49:51] in Elden. >> That's right. So why don't they just

[49:54] move it there? >> It's capacity.

[49:57] » Oh come on. It's >> a different postal code right beside it

[49:59] nowhere near >> it's a different postal code. You can't

[50:02] just throw it there. So basically what you're saying is we already have

[50:06] » you would a different postal code be okay to move it there. It would be okay

[50:09] to move it to Elden. >> That's what they say.

[50:11] » Yeah. >> I think they're nuts.

[50:12] » Okay. >> Yeah. So, basically, they've given us

[50:15] two options. Either >> Well,

[50:18] » we keep it where it is or they move it to Monagu. That's the only two options

[50:24] they give us. >> So, I think just a second now because

[50:27] the uh the post office in Elvin I know I don't know when Connie is going to

[50:32] retire, but she's getting off the phone to retirement age or something rather

[50:35] now. So are they move it to Monu too or are we going to why don't they

[50:39] consolidate the two post offices give that as an option to them and maybe move

[50:43] it in more central location like the old fireh hall building would be a good

[50:46] location for it central to the community present them with options

[50:51] » but I think right now like they're not look they're not actively looking to get

[50:55] rid of it it's just that they need our support to say it's okay that someone

[51:00] who doesn't live at the property operates the property and there is a

[51:04] contract Trish's worked that out with this this lady and so I Yeah.

[51:09] » which provides a local job for Exactly. >> been trained by the way so you can post.

[51:15] » Yeah. So I think I think rather than my suggestion personally would be if you

[51:20] start giving them options to completely remove something they'll probably given

[51:26] given uh you know the financial straits that they're in. So I think we should

[51:31] the council support. find a slider replace them off you with the builder

[51:35] elden on temporary basis post solution >> in which case since we don't have a

[51:41] unanimous uh feeling uh I would need a motion uh to the suggestion

[51:47] uh about sending uh bell river or s can post a letter to follow up with the

[51:55] mayor's recommendation of keeping it in the same location.

[51:59] Yeah, that's my personal feeling is that we only

[52:01] » option. I'll I'll make a motion for that. And

[52:05] the reason why is if we give them two options, then they might cop out and

[52:09] take that second option. So, I think for start to start, we give them one option

[52:14] that says we're happy with this. Trish is happy with this. Um the other lady,

[52:18] sorry, I don't remember her name, is happy with this. And then if they come

[52:22] back after that and say no, sorry, we're not going to do that. Then we offer

[52:26] Elden. If if Connie has agreed that that's a pay exactly

[52:31] need a second for that motion second >> second from Billy all in favor I

[52:38] » n okay hearing none that's a unanimous

[52:44] sense >> and I also apologize for not responding

[52:46] to that email because I just misunderstood what the aspir

[52:55] new business. >> Yes. Uh I have one and that's the

[52:58] excused absence of councelor McGivern for personal matter. Uh can I

[53:05] have a move and a mover in a second or for an excused absence?

[53:09] » I will move that second. >> Uh sorry who was the second?

[53:15] » I was captain. All in favor? >> I

[53:22] thank you. >> Okay. Motion carried. Our next meeting,

[53:26] regular council meeting will be Wednesday, September the 16th, 2026 of 7

[53:32] at the RMB office and uh municipal general election is Monday, November

[53:38] 2nd. Yes, I thought I would start putting that in on our thing because

[53:43] it's basically two and a half months away and uh Ashley and I are going to be

[53:49] very busy over the next uh little while because there's a lot of training and

[53:54] stipulations that uh election PEI have in order for us to be able to run an

[54:00] election. So, so it's on the agenda from now until it

[54:04] happens. >> Okay. And is there any further business?

[54:12] Move to adjourn by I'll move to

[54:19] » Thank you everyone. Goodbye Facebook. >> Have a good night. Ross

[54:22] » at 7:54. So the encounter

RMB Council Meeting 2026-08-19

Transcript