[0:05] Annie, bonsoir, and good evening, and welcome to our regular meeting of

[0:09] council. As normally I do, the first meeting of the month goes to the Deputy

[0:16] Mayor. So, to you, Annie. >> Thank you, Mayor Paju.

[0:20] I would first like to begin the meeting by acknowledging that we are in the

[0:24] traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people in the Robinson-Huron Treaty

[0:29] Area. And wish to recognize the neighboring

[0:32] community of Dokis First Nation. While we meet today, I would like to take a

[0:37] moment to acknowledge the importance of the lands which we call home. We do this

[0:42] through reaffirm our commitment and responsibility in improving our own

[0:46] understanding of local indigenous peoples and their cultures. From coast

[0:51] to coast, we acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territory of all the Inuit,

[0:56] Métis, and First Nation peoples that call this land home.

[1:00] And with that, I need a mover and a seconder for the adoption

[1:07] of the agenda. Okay, Willie and Roger.

[1:12] I believe Are we doing the amendment right now at

[1:17] 6.4.1? Or are we just keeping it there?

[1:21] We're going to keep it there. Okay. You'll speak to it. Okay.

[1:25] So, um

[1:28] We have no disclosures of pecuniary interest.

[1:31] We have no delegations. So, we'll continue on to reports and

[1:35] items for consideration 6.1.1, a resolution to approve the

[1:40] municipality's contribution to the Sudbury East OPP Detachment Board's 2026

[1:46] budget. And I believe Mayor Paju will speak on this.

[1:50] » Thank you. Um

[1:52] So, the We've already passed our budget which included the OPP budget. However,

[1:58] with the OPP detachment board, part of the regulations is once the budget is

[2:05] approved by the OPP detachment board, it has to come back here for formal

[2:11] approval by the uh by council. Um just to let you know that

[2:17] uh what we budgeted will be it's a little

[2:20] lower than what we currently have uh because there were a few savings, but um

[2:26] aside from that uh I believe Carly has a resolution for us.

[2:34] » It's a long one, so bear with me. So, it says whereas pursuant to the

[2:39] Community Safety and Policing Act 2019 Section 71-1, an OPP detachment board

[2:45] shall prepare estimates in accordance with the regulations made by the

[2:48] Minister of the total amount required to pay the expenses of the board's

[2:52] operation excluding the remuneration of board members, and whereas pursuant

[2:58] to the CSPA 2019 Section 71-2, the OPP detachment board shall submit the

[3:05] estimates to every municipality that receives policing services from the

[3:09] detachment along with statement of the municipality's share of the costs as

[3:14] determined in accordance with the regulations made by the Minister, and

[3:18] pursuant to the CSPA Section 71-3 subject to Section 4, municipalities

[3:23] shall contribute their share of the cost to the OPP detachment board's budget in

[3:28] accordance with the estimates. And pursuant to sec- to O. Reg. 135-24

[3:34] Section 3, each municipality in the area for which the OPP detachment board has

[3:40] services shall pay an equal share of the amount set out in the board's estimates.

[3:46] And whereas Sudbury East OPP detachment board has prepared estimates of all sums

[3:51] required for the operation of the board for the fiscal year of 2026 totaling

[3:55] $26,276.80

[3:59] to be shared equally among the participating municipalities.

[4:03] Um and then it lists out the same amount for all four municipalities at

[4:08] $6,569.20.

[4:12] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Council of the Municipality of French

[4:15] River hereby approves the 2026 budget estimates for the Sudbury East OPP

[4:20] Detachment Board in the total amount of $26,276.80

[4:24] and confirms the municipality's obligation to contribute its equal share

[4:28] in the amount of $6,569.20

[4:32] in accordance with O. Reg. 135-24 and provide a copy of this resolution to

[4:37] the Sudbury East OPP Detachment Board for their records

[4:41] and implementation. >> Okay.

[4:44] Uh I'm over in a second or Councillor Dave

[4:48] and Councillor Bom. All those in favor? Good.

[4:53] Uh there are no finances tonight. Public Works is nil, so we'll continue on to

[4:59] 6.4 Recreation and Community Services. 6.4.1

[5:04] Build Community Strong Fund Local Impact Stream. We have a resolution to approve

[5:09] the addition of the fire suspension system

[5:13] at the Noelville Arena as an additional 2026 capital project and I believe our

[5:19] CAO Mark can speak to this. >> Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. Um just to

[5:23] give a a brief background is that the federal government released details on

[5:28] the funding program which support local infrastructure

[5:31] funding delivered through FedNor for

[5:34] shovel-ready community infrastructure projects. Upon reviewing the system and

[5:38] discussing the program with our representative out of North Bay,

[5:42] we were pleased to find out that they would recognize the arena dash board

[5:46] system even though it the project has is currently underway, has still qualifying

[5:51] for the application even though we started prior to the application

[5:55] submission. Um so we were pleased with that. Uh and

[5:59] then trying to take advantage of the potential um program, we looked into the

[6:04] fire suppression system. Um unfortunately,

[6:08] from the day I wrote this report last week, things have changed. Um our

[6:13] original cost estimate of $200,000 has ballooned uh significantly higher and

[6:19] and probably outside of the purview of what

[6:23] we can afford to put in place for this 20202026

[6:27] capital budget season. Um so I'm recommending that we remove

[6:32] that first resolution at this point in time from the application. Uh but I'm uh

[6:38] still recommending that council proceed with authorizing us to submit the

[6:42] application for the arena boards project at a cost of $450,000,

[6:47] which is already approved by council, uh with a contribution from the federal

[6:52] program of 225 and our contribution of 225.

[6:59] » Anybody have any questions? I need a mover and a seconder.

[7:04] Councillor Willie and Councillor Dave.

[7:10] Do you want to read the resolution?

[7:17] » Therefore, council authorizes a funding application to the Build Communities

[7:20] Strong Fund Local Impact Stream for the arena dasher board replacement project

[7:25] with the total project value at 450,000 and a municipal contribution of up to

[7:30] 225,000. >> All those in favor?

[7:35] It passed. 6.5 Emergency and Protection Services

[7:39] 6.5.1 We have the report

[7:44] 2026 flooding flooding event report. Um I believe it's all in there.

[7:52] Um Mark will speak to this since Russ's not available tonight.

[7:56] » Thank you, Madam Chair. Um as promised to council, we said that we would come

[8:00] back with a report detailing the the events that we went through in 2026

[8:04] during the flooding events. Um so you'll see the background and I'll

[8:09] I'll briefly go to the the main points um as all the information is already

[8:13] within uh the report. Um so following the

[8:17] summary of the municipal per response and impacts related to the flood events,

[8:21] uh we did declare significant weather uh event as of April 14th due to the the

[8:27] substantial rainfalls that we had received leading into that date. Uh the

[8:32] state of emergency was declared by the mayor on April 15th and was terminated

[8:36] on April 27th. The emergency control group held 10 meetings.

[8:41] Um myself along with the fire chief, who's also the community emergency

[8:45] management coordinator for the municipality, attended more than 20

[8:49] meetings uh with the Sturgeon Nipissing French

[8:52] River shed community. Total of 20 roads were affected during

[8:56] that event. Most affected roads were repaired within 24 hours. Two municipal

[9:01] roads were flooded for over over 30 days.

[9:05] Highway 607 was flooded uh for approximately 30 days in two separate

[9:10] locations affecting some residents in uh some businesses.

[9:14] Um one private road was also flooded for an extended period of time over 30 days.

[9:20] A total of 20 residents that we're aware of reported flood impacts to us at the

[9:24] municipality. And a volunteer firefighter staffed the

[9:28] Alban fire station for 20 days straight for 8 hours per day. And then we with

[9:34] our capabilities with our drones that we have at the municipality we're able to

[9:39] uh fly over some of the affected areas and provide information

[9:43] to the dam managers in terms of the impacts that were being realized within

[9:48] our municipality. Um

[9:51] 18 members of the Ontario Search and Rescue Volunteer Association through the

[9:55] provincial assistance with the provincial declaration were in our

[9:58] community for a period of time to assist with

[10:01] sandbagging. We did receive assistance from grade 7

[10:05] and grade 8 students from Magnetawan Public School, approximately 20 of them,

[10:09] helped out with sandbags, which is great and very appreciated. And approximately

[10:15] 40 residents did volunteer their times in assisting in providing assistance.

[10:20] Um these were done through two sandbagging stations that were held at

[10:24] the community center and the Alban Community Center and the Well Community

[10:27] Center. We did provide a total of 7,000 sandbags

[10:32] that were deployed from the municipality to assist local residents.

[10:37] We did provide some assistance to Heavy Inlet and the Municipality of Killarney

[10:43] who were short bags at the onset of the flood and those bags have been

[10:49] replaced from there. So we're looking current in

[10:52] our current inventory now in preparation for future events as we're sitting at

[10:57] about 8,000 bags in storage. Council did authorize the use of the

[11:03] landfill for affected residents and as you'll see from the report one resident

[11:07] at this time has taken advantage of that situation and we're still open for

[11:12] others as we haven't met the threshold that was approved by council.

[11:16] One thing I'd like to point out is disaster recovery assistance. There's

[11:21] two programs offered by the province, one for municipal assistance. As you can

[11:26] see from the report, unfortunately we didn't meet the threshold for the

[11:30] municipality expenses Uh, to qualify for that part of the

[11:34] recovery assistance. And what I'll do is maybe turn it over to Julie, just to

[11:39] give you an idea of our expenses to date that we encountered as a municipality

[11:45] for the emergency. >> Thank you, Mark. So yes, in your report

[11:50] you'll see that we've spent so far approximately 75,000

[11:56] dollars. That would be the financial impact of the flooding.

[12:00] Um, those costs include contractor work on the flooded

[12:04] roads, pardon. Culvert replacements, traffic control measures, sandbags, and

[12:09] overtime volunteer related costs. Um, so like Mark mentioned, we do not

[12:16] qualify as the threshold was approximately 173,000

[12:22] dollars, which is 3% of our the

[12:26] source revenue.

[12:29] » Thank you, Julie. >> Again, the second part of the Ontario

[12:33] disaster recovery program is assistance to provide people that have been

[12:37] affected both personally with households and commercial industry.

[12:43] The group of the ministry was in the area on June 3rd to do

[12:48] an evaluation with their adjuster. As of the date of this report, we had

[12:53] still not received confirmation whether we as municipality would qualify for the

[12:59] program or not. And we're hoping to receive by April 16th, if I'm not

[13:03] mistaken with that mayor, July 16th. Um, if successful, the the the staff will

[13:10] work in terms of putting out the information and how to residents can

[13:14] make application for assistance. And we did

[13:18] identify three main areas of concern of people who we needed assistance.

[13:26] Um, now,

[13:29] um um, volunteers talked about, landfill talked about. In terms of conclusion,

[13:34] um, the flood event had a significant impact on the municipal, uh, French

[13:38] River operations as you can see from our financial expenses and also had a

[13:42] significant impact on on our residents and our private private properties and

[13:47] and the commercial industry that, uh, operates along the river in many

[13:51] locations. Um, through the coordinated efforts of

[13:54] municipal staff, the emergency control group, provincial partners, volunteers,

[13:57] firefighters, students and residents, municipality was able to respond

[14:01] promptly and effectively by providing sandbags,

[14:04] undertaking road repairs, monitoring conditions and supporting affected areas

[14:08] to the best of our ability. Um, I wish and the the committee, along

[14:14] with the municipality, extends its sincere appreciation to all individuals

[14:18] and organization who contributed, um, to the flood response events including, um,

[14:23] the, um, Union, uh, who did provide some funds

[14:27] for assistance, as well. Which was very much appreciated. I want

[14:32] to make sure that that's mentioned. So, out of the outcome of of this event,

[14:38] um, you know, we have taken upon ourselves listening

[14:43] to, uh, council members, listening to

[14:45] affected members, listening to affected parties along, uh, along the river and

[14:51] you'll see within your package that the we have drafted a, uh, a letter to the

[14:58] Minister, Federal Minister responsible, um, through government transformation,

[15:02] public works and procurement, requesting a ministerial delegation and federal

[15:07] engagement regarding the French River dams complex and its role in recent

[15:11] flooding events. It's not, um, hard to say and we've

[15:14] talked about this at this table on numerous occasions, um,

[15:19] climate change events are occurring more rapidly

[15:23] more more and less intervals and has a fairly significant impact on our

[15:30] economics the very economic industry and and private residences.

[15:36] So in a nutshell the letter outlines key requested outcomes or points of

[15:42] discussion that we would like to have with the minister.

[15:45] Looking for an independent technical and operational review of the 2026 flood

[15:50] event a climate adaptation and flood risk action plan.

[15:55] Improve watershed governance and equitable risk management.

[16:00] Enhanced transparency and emergency communication protocols although there's

[16:04] there's communications out there I you know I think there's always room for

[16:07] improvement to share more information. I know

[16:11] as as the the lead person I do refer people to the website and into certain

[16:17] areas but I sometimes it's information that's hard

[16:20] to understand and interpret I think

[16:24] maybe we can do better in terms of providing better communications.

[16:29] And and consideration of upstream and adjacent infrastructure constraints

[16:33] impacting downstream communities and although I kept it general

[16:38] and indeed would be I'm sure aware in terms of the impact that the

[16:45] water treatment plant in the city of North Bay has on an impact in terms of

[16:50] how we try to manage

[16:55] the upstream and downstream and share the pain throughout events both not just

[17:00] in flooding events but also in in low water events.

[17:05] So you have the correspondence in your package

[17:08] we're looking for Council to endorse that draft correspondence to be sent to

[17:12] the minister and authorize the mayor to execute and

[17:15] submit the correspondence on behalf of the municipality.

[17:20] Sorry for being so long. >> That's okay, Mark.

[17:23] Um I don't think we have a resolution in there.

[17:27] We do Oh, we do have what? Okay, sorry. My uh so I need a mover and a seconder.

[17:31] Councillor Bob and Councillor Roger. And go ahead.

[17:36] » Be it resolved that council endorses and authorizes the mayor to execute and

[17:40] submit the attached letter to the Honorable Jewel Lightbound,

[17:44] Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement regarding

[17:47] the French River Dams Complex and Watershed Resilience on behalf of the

[17:51] Municipality of French River. >> All those in favor.

[17:56] Okay. Thank you. Well, thanks, Mark.

[18:00] Oh, 1 minute. >> I just I just have a question. Um the

[18:04] amount that that this cost us the 75,000 or whatever, out of where is that coming

[18:10] from? Cuz we didn't budget for a flood.

[18:15] » Good question, Madam Mayor. Um through you, Madam Chair.

[18:19] Um we're hoping to realize some savings. We've done We've seen a a little bit of

[18:23] savings here and there. Um hopefully that we'll be able to uh capture those

[18:28] and uh address them towards that um that

[18:32] overspend uh to be able to balance our budget.

[18:35] » We We do have a a working reserve fund as well, right? Right?

[18:40] » Yes, there is a >> So, if worst case scenario, if we don't

[18:45] manage savings, we can go to that >> That would be

[18:48] » line item and and get it out of there, right?

[18:51] » Yes. >> Okay. Mark.

[18:53] » Yeah, so traditionally what we've done in the past is we try to absorb it

[18:57] within our operations as best as we can with savings. Um so, at one point in

[19:01] late November or early December, I'm certain that Julie will come back and

[19:05] say, "Here's our projections. Here's um where our shortfalls are and here's what

[19:10] we're suggesting we take the money to um make up any shortfalls due to the

[19:15] emergency expenses.

[19:19] Um in terms of of the letter, any

[19:23] Sorry, any feedback?

[19:28] » Councillor Willie. >> After reading the letter,

[19:31] I was very pleased that all aspects of what our municipality has

[19:38] went through was touched on. I even like how the nuances of the equality was

[19:43] mentioned as well. I don't think there was much left

[19:47] wanting. I think it was very direct, very to the point, and very informative.

[19:52] It outlines exactly what we need moving forward to have things very clearly and

[19:57] concisely put in writing so we have something to follow moving forward.

[20:05] » Thank you, Willie. Anybody else? Councillor Dean.

[20:13] » I suspect I mean, I'm not opposed to the letter. I think it's a a good idea. It

[20:18] at least expresses our concerns with the way the system has been has been

[20:22] operated, but I don't think we're going to get anywhere because I don't know

[20:26] what they else they can do without some kind of serious changes to the whole

[20:31] system. And whether or not that will occur or

[20:36] I mean, I I mean, I've seen these kind of letters before. Been at meetings of

[20:41] all kinds over this water level management and uh

[20:45] and they're just we're we're we're so much at the

[20:51] at the what the weather conditions are at the runoff period in

[20:57] in March and April. I mean, if everything goes smoothly, we

[21:02] don't see a problem. If we get a combination of a rapid melt

[21:07] and a heavy rain, we're in trouble. And there's with with the existing

[21:11] infrastructure, there's nothing else can be done.

[21:15] Either we flood the lake or we flood that vast down here or both. And I've

[21:19] seen both. I don't know what we think can be done,

[21:23] but doesn't hurt to ask. >> Sir, I

[21:28] » I'll leave it at that. >> If I may say something, I know that 7

[21:31] years ago we had made we had had a meeting

[21:37] uh for the flooding back from our first flood in 2019.

[21:43] I believe it was. I would like to see if there

[21:47] there's anything that they've done over the course of the years cuz they had

[21:50] told us that they would be working on a plan, right? So, it would be nice to see

[21:56] what they have done over the the last 7 years from like what kind of work has

[22:01] been done. It would be nice cuz I know that back then they had said that they

[22:05] would do something. And I think this year it seemed like it

[22:09] was better controlled. I don't know if that's just me, but it seemed like the

[22:14] flooding was all not all dumped on us like prior years.

[22:22] » Last time around, they had some meetings after the flood. And they brought some

[22:28] people from out west. Supposed to be very experienced in flood control

[22:32] management and that sort of thing. They spoke to I I attended the meeting

[22:36] in North Bay where he spoke and the message from the group at the at

[22:42] that meeting was take the issue to the province.

[22:46] Never heard more. Did you hear any more? I never heard more.

[22:52] That's where it went. That this guy went to

[22:54] was assigned to the province to bring the information to them on them I guess

[22:59] on how they handle flooding in the Red River and that sort of thing in

[23:02] Manitoba. He was from Winnipeg. But I don't think that I never heard or

[23:07] read of any changes that were made in operations or the management of the dams

[23:14] or the system. And I'm sure we would have heard if there was.

[23:20] » You can go ahead, Mark. >> Thank you through you, Madam Chair. Um

[23:23] the changes that were made is that they did

[23:26] amend the operational guidelines. Uh they made some changes to the wording.

[23:30] They did talk about equality uh in terms of sharing

[23:35] sharing sharing. Um they did uh define the fact that at

[23:39] one point uh at a certain level the dams would be open wide open. That wording

[23:44] was changed uh in from there. And they did add some monitoring stations and

[23:49] snow monitoring stations within the system to give them some better

[23:52] indications of um of some of the um the data that's required to make some of

[23:59] those decisions. Um again, the letter was drafted and I think Councillor Dean,

[24:04] you said it appropriately. If we sit by and and think um and not say anything,

[24:10] they think everything's kosher and right. Um but if we express our concerns

[24:15] and our willingness to work or to discuss the matters, at least uh we're

[24:19] putting our concerns to the forefront and see where it takes us.

[24:25] » Thank you, Mark. Councillor Willie. >> I just want to comment after Dean made

[24:29] his comments, right? I've never been one to sit back and just just uh accept

[24:34] things as they are. Uh we have to always evaluate. If we're going to move

[24:38] forward, we have to look at what we have, evaluate what's going on, and we

[24:41] have to address and try to make change. Uh I can speak to the building code.

[24:45] There has been hurricane ties put in roofs so they don't fly off anymore.

[24:49] That was done because we recognized a deficiency in the building. So, we have

[24:54] to look at these processes again, and we have to see where efficiencies could be

[24:58] made or or changed. To sit around and say

[25:02] we're at the mercy of extreme weather events, there's nothing we can do, I

[25:06] have a hard time accepting that. I think we have to look into these things. If we

[25:10] were to move forward, we we know we're prone, we have a deficiency

[25:15] um with our waterway. We do accept um everything running down from Nipissing.

[25:20] Um Nipissing can only control so much and they have to off-shed. But we still

[25:24] have to look at all parameters in order to make an informed and uh educated

[25:29] decision. That's all I have to say. >> Okay. Thank you.

[25:34] So uh I think we are all in favor of presenting the letter at during AMO.

[25:40] Council's okay with that? So All right. We'll continue on to 6.5.2.

[25:47] We have a resolution to award the purchase of the thermal imaging camera.

[25:52] And I believe Julie will speak to that. >> Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

[25:57] Um so in your package, you'll have the report um

[26:01] to award the purchase of the two new thermal imaging cameras.

[26:06] Um some background information. So Council has approved $18,000 in the

[26:11] capital budget for the purchase of those two cameras.

[26:15] Um we submitted a request for quotation back in March um and received some

[26:21] quotations back then. However, not uh all the um vendors were meeting the

[26:28] requirements and we noticed that we were missing an important National Fire

[26:32] Protection Association requirement in the document. So we had to reissue to

[26:36] make sure that uh all the vendors knew of what we we were requiring in this

[26:42] purchase. So a second request for quotation was issued uh on June 1st with

[26:48] a um deadline of June 25th. At that time we

[26:53] did receive three submissions

[26:57] that you'll see in your report and one of them, the 1200 degrees

[27:04] or dark fire ink has met all the specifications for the

[27:12] camera that we had listed at a price of $16,998

[27:18] plus HST. That's for both cameras. So based on the evaluation criteria and

[27:26] the prices, it is recommended that council award the purchase of those two

[27:31] thermal cameras to 1200 degrees dark fire ink for $16,998

[27:38] plus tax. >> Okay.

[27:42] We need a mover and a second. Councillor David and Councillor Willie.

[27:47] » It is all that council awards the purchase of two thermal imaging cameras

[27:51] for the fire department to 1200 degrees dark fire ink for $16,998

[27:57] plus applicable taxes. >> All those in favor?

[28:01] Okay. Thank you. We'll continue on to 6.5.3 which is a

[28:07] quarterly report from the fire department.

[28:10] As a doc is not here. If you guys have any questions for him

[28:17] after looking at the report, you can send them an email and I'm sure he will

[28:23] gladly answer any questions that we have, but I think it's pretty basic and

[28:28] pretty similar to the the past few years. So we'll continue on to 6.6

[28:36] building planning and development. 6.6.1 we have a resolution to adopt the

[28:43] building bylaw draft presented at the meeting of June 3rd, 2026. And I believe

[28:49] Andrea, our building official, will speak to that.

[28:54] » Thank you. To you, Madam Chair.

[28:58] Um so, this uh building uh the draft building report was brought

[29:02] to council at the last council meeting in June uh June 3rd. And um as required

[29:08] by the building building control uh sorry, Ontario Building Code Act, any

[29:13] changes to the fees in a building bylaw need to be posted to the public for 21

[29:18] days. Uh the municipality posted the changes to the bylaw on the municipal

[29:24] website and also to the municipal Facebook page to put it out to the

[29:27] public that we were making these changes.

[29:30] Up until this meeting, I had received no response from the public about any

[29:34] issues with these changes. And if unless council has any questions this evening,

[29:39] I recommend that the bylaw be passed this evening.

[29:43] » Anybody have any questions? Seeing none, I need a mover and a seconder.

[29:48] Councillor Bob and Councillor Roger.

[29:53] » Be it resolved that bylaw 2026-40, being a bylaw respecting construction,

[29:58] demolition, and change of use permits and inspections, be read a first,

[30:02] second, and third time and finally passed.

[30:04] » All those in favor? We'll continue on to uh seven, the

[30:10] correspondence. We have 7.1. We have a donation request for the Kids Golf

[30:15] Tournament at Maples.

[30:18] Um I believe we have a resolution. I need a mover and a seconder, a

[30:25] recommendation. A request.

[30:29] A mover and a seconder. I believe we're It says that we're going to sponsor a

[30:33] hole. Does anybody have any questions?

[30:43] » Um my apologies. I'm just curious. All right, so we are making a donation?

[30:48] » Uh I believe there is a recommendation to make a donation of a whole.

[30:53] Yes. >> In a financial amount of?

[30:57] » Of $100. Okay.

[31:00] » Thank you. We didn't see this. It's not >> Pardon me?

[31:03] » We don't have this information. >> Oh, I thought we

[31:10] » We have the letter, the request letter, but

[31:12] » Okay. >> No backup to it.

[31:14] » Oh, okay. My my apologies. So, uh yeah, we had the the request and I believe uh

[31:22] I guess we would need somebody to move it forward. Uh Counselor Davis?

[31:27] Counselor Willie? And I believe uh

[31:31] you have the resolution for it. >> Yes.

[31:34] Uh be it resolved that council approves a donation of $100 to the French River

[31:38] Junior Golf Tournament towards their annual event on July 21st, 2026.

[31:43] » All those in favor? Thank you.

[31:47] So, this is a kids golf tournament that they have annually at the Maples.

[31:52] Um so

[31:58] He's sitting and he

[32:03] So, we'll continue on with uh we have the consent agenda.

[32:07] We need a mover and a consent and and a seconder to adopt uh

[32:13] So, Counselor Willie and I need a seconder.

[32:18] Counselor Davis? >> Be it resolved that council approves the

[32:22] items of the consent agenda under section 8.1 and receives the items under

[32:26] section 8.2. >> All those in favor?

[32:31] Thank you. Uh there are no items separated from the

[32:36] consent agenda. Now, we will move no notices of motions.

[32:41] Uh we will move on to announcements and inquiries and I believe Mayor Pigeau

[32:45] would like to proceed first. >> I do.

[32:50] Sorry, Bob. Nice try, Bob.

[32:55] That's what That's the good part of not sharing is that I get to say go first at

[33:00] announcement, not last as normal. Uh but one of the reasons I wanted to go

[33:05] first I want to express once again my sincerest thanks um

[33:10] to the staff, uh especially Mel and Jason um who put uh Canada Day together

[33:17] for us. And um you know, and it had to be moved inside

[33:21] the uh arena, which was the best move uh because of the amount of heat. Um I also

[33:27] want to thank members of council who uh worked so hard on the the barbecue, man.

[33:34] As I said to you in my email, um I think uh the municipality owes you a shirt and

[33:40] a stiff drink. So, that that was uh a hot one out there.

[33:45] Also, uh the firefighters association um for once again doing their dunk tank and

[33:52] uh that got us a bit of publicity uh on the on the news, which uh I thought was

[33:57] really nice. Um the only other thing that I have is

[34:02] um the cart the French River Lions Club is

[34:07] hosting a car show at Didi's on July 18th. Uh starts I believe at 10:00 and

[34:15] goes through till 3:00 and they're going to be highlighting a lot of

[34:19] antique cars and bikes and whatever and the proceeds that

[34:24] are uh being uh raised will go to the food

[34:28] bank. Um so, that's uh very much appreciated. So, that's uh not this

[34:33] Saturday, next Saturday between 10:00 and 3:00 a.m. Oh, 3:00 a.m. Yeah, right.

[34:39] 3:00 p.m. Didi's restaurant. And that's all I have

[34:44] for now.

[34:48] » Thank you, Mary Bethune. We'll continue on with Roger.

[34:54] » Thank you, Madam Chair. I have to double up on the Canada Day.

[35:02] I think it's the amount of work that went into it.

[35:05] Unbelievable. Like moving everything from outside to inside.

[35:09] So, I would like to also thank Mel and Jason.

[35:14] I mean, Jason really basically carried the Canada Day.

[35:19] One thing I have to say though, the workers outside the bar on the barbecue

[35:25] get a get a stiff drink. I was inside, so I

[35:28] should get half a drink. Thank you.

[35:37] » Elton Bond. >> Thank you, Madam Chair.

[35:42] I I think counselor uh Roger, you should get you should get a

[35:46] full drink. But we'll we'll give doubles to the

[35:50] people outside. >> Here you go. Perfect.

[35:53] » Uh I will uh

[35:57] maybe won't sound good, but you said you second that the I'll

[36:04] turn that. And I have to say yeah, thank you to Mel

[36:08] and uh and Jason and all the organizers, all

[36:12] the volunteers, all the the people that attended. Uh

[36:19] just seeing that that's the smiles of the the kids, the children,

[36:25] the games, the face painting, the the bouncy

[36:29] bouncy uh whatever you call them there.

[36:33] And and some Some of the kids complained though because they said there was an

[36:38] adult in there. >> Oh, no.

[36:40] » But that that has to to go. And

[36:45] anyway, thank you to everyone. It was a super day.

[36:49] Uh the only two more things that I have. I had a

[36:53] chance to visit the arena this afternoon. The boards are coming along

[36:57] great. They're looking very nice. Uh but the the workmanship is very good.

[37:04] The the quality of the product we got is very good.

[37:08] And seniors complex meeting

[37:13] next next week on uh the week after 22nd. Anyway.

[37:18] And I don't know where the summer is going. I'd just like to wish everyone a

[37:22] a super rest of the summer and uh

[37:26] be safe and enjoy.

[37:30] » Thank you, Bob. Oh, Councillor Rogers. >> One thing I I forgot to mention about

[37:35] Canada Day and I thought, you know, being in

[37:38] selling tickets is the smiles that I saw on the younger kids when they came to

[37:45] buy a hot dog or something and they were told that they weren't paying, you know,

[37:50] it brought a big smile and the you know, the the whole package of the pop and the

[37:55] chips. And I also have to saw a few smiles on the parents when

[37:59] they found out didn't have to pay. So, giving out hot dogs to the kids and

[38:05] like a hot dog combo or whatever, uh I think it was a very good idea and that

[38:10] should never come in doubt that every candidate should the same thing should

[38:15] happen. Thank you. >> You're welcome.

[38:18] Councillor Willie. >> I won't keep going on about Canada Day,

[38:23] Canada Day from my observation was a great success. I just want to point out,

[38:26] I know there's been some mention with Jason there. Um

[38:29] while I was cooking, I made mention that I was burning my arms reaching in to

[38:33] grab the back burners. And Jason says, "I can help you. I'll

[38:37] fix it." I said, "No, no, don't worry about that. We'll just look at that for

[38:40] next time, right?" So, he shows up and he's got this modified spatula now with

[38:45] a hockey stick handle. I had no problem reaching those back

[38:49] burners burgers after that. Um moving on to just an observation I

[38:54] made. We live in a in a fantastic municipality

[38:57] and I think for the most part we all do look after each other and we we mind

[39:02] what we do and and really reflect on how it affects

[39:05] everybody else. Just two things I want to bring up, ATVs and jet skis. Um ATVs,

[39:12] it's a privilege actually to to have those vehicles on the road. I don't know

[39:15] if we go back not too far that we weren't allowed to put them on the road.

[39:19] They had to trailer to locations. I'm witnessing people take cart launch

[39:24] and they're riding in the middle of the road. They're blocking traffic and

[39:27] they're obstructing Well, they're obstructing traffic. Um I don't know

[39:30] what the exact regs are, but you have to shoulder those vehicles and they have to

[39:34] ride at a percentage of the road the legal road speed. I just want everyone

[39:38] to keep that in mind, please, that we shouldn't be in the way of of normal

[39:43] modes of transportation. Uh next, jet skis. Um we live in a pristine

[39:47] environment. French River example, well, there's a

[39:50] lot of that river that isn't populated. Um wild sounds, wild animals, and

[39:55] there's nothing that breaks that than hearing a jet ski do circles, burp

[40:00] pissing the thing, jump up and down all over the place, revving, and cranking

[40:04] the music on these machines for what reason? Put

[40:08] your buds in. That's that's what I do when I'm on the

[40:11] lawn mower. No one needs to listen to my music. Um I just need people to um

[40:16] realize uh what they're doing and how it affects other people. That's all. You're

[40:21] enjoying your activity, that's great. Other people may not be enjoying that

[40:24] activity as well. So, I just I just want to put that out there. I know

[40:28] probably in many instances we're not doing this on purpose. Sometimes we just

[40:31] need a reminder of what we're doing and how it affects others. Uh that's all I

[40:36] have. Thank you. >> Thank you, Counselor Willie.

[40:41] Uh Counselor Dean.

[40:47] » I'd just like to uh reiterate that I thought the Canada Day

[40:51] celebration was really well done. I myself came out prepared to try to do

[40:57] something and I didn't get offered any job, so I mostly walked around and

[41:02] talked and that sort of thing, but uh but it was well attended and people were

[41:08] enjoying themselves and uh there was some kind of interest in the

[41:12] dunk tank and some of those kind of things, too.

[41:15] But I think I think it was a success and and I I'm I didn't see the fireworks,

[41:20] but I'm guessing it went well, too. It was a good evening for them and

[41:25] and uh so but otherwise it was uh it was well done and uh

[41:31] I won't even be around next year, so I don't have to worry about whether I get

[41:36] a job or not, but I went out there. I thought maybe I might be working and

[41:40] then I found Willie and and uh Dave and another body doing all of the

[41:45] work and and uh and now they had the special spatulas to work with, so

[41:51] they'll be better than ever in going into the future. So, uh that's all I

[41:56] have to say. It was well done and I'm glad we uh were so successful and we had

[42:02] good weather.

[42:04] » Counselor Dave. >> I'm going to say to same thing with

[42:08] Canada Day. It was uh very well organized and uh

[42:13] I want to thank uh Bob, Willie, Renee, Julie, and Jason who allowed me to take

[42:20] a little bit more of a break this year on the barbecue so I could play on the

[42:23] bouncy castle. Which it wasn't any easier than cooking,

[42:27] by the way.

[42:32] » Thank you, Dave. Uh so, I'm going to go on uh

[42:37] Canada Day was great. The fireworks were amazing. Uh

[42:42] must say thank you to the fire department for getting the

[42:48] the dunk tank. Uh I think uh on the hot day like that, we did not have a hard

[42:53] time getting any volunteers. Even our uh Ian Campbell was put down by our mayor.

[43:00] So, she can throw a baseball. She can. So, thank you to uh everybody

[43:07] who gave a hand and I'm glad everybody was able to enjoy it.

[43:12] Um there are a few things. Um the Trading Post is celebrat- uh is

[43:18] celebrating 75 years of being 70 years? 70 years of being in business this year.

[43:25] My apologies. Uh so, it's a big year for them. So, if

[43:29] you have a chance to stop in throughout the summer, I know they have numerous

[43:32] activities going on. Um also, we have BG's Tacos out in Albin that is doing a

[43:40] market on Sundays now. So, that is great to see.

[43:45] Uh it's nice to see that we have all these businesses around in the area

[43:49] whether it be food uh or markets or it's really nice to see uh

[43:56] the livelihood uh in the communities of all these extra

[44:01] businesses and I know that the tourists or the seasonal people are really

[44:06] enjoying it. You know, from Seasons and Brew to Kathy Caravan for ice cream or

[44:12] you know, Contigo Cafe for coffee or the Trading Post or Great Escape Cabins.

[44:19] There seems to be a lot to do and with the beach and the splash pad, so people

[44:23] are really enjoying that. So, it's great to see all the new businesses

[44:28] in the community and the ones that are soon to open. So, congrats to that

[44:33] to all of that. We have uh the Trout Lake Picnic Association will have their

[44:39] annual picnic on Sunday, August 2nd. Um I know there's also Christmas in July

[44:46] happening with the French the No L'eau French

[44:50] River Market, uh which will be July 25th, 2026. A lot

[44:55] of the businesses in town here will have specials going on from Home Hardware to

[45:01] the chip stand. Uh so, you might they'll have

[45:04] decorations out. So, uh you may want to go around and and participate and

[45:09] hopefully next year we can get some of the houses to decorate, which would be

[45:13] really nice and maybe get some kind of I don't know bike-a-thon or something

[45:17] going. So, we Santa Claus is supposed to stop in this

[45:21] year. Uh he is scheduled. He's uh on holidays

[45:27] and but before he jumps into the busy season,

[45:30] he's going to stop in. Uh there's also the car show happening.

[45:34] And so, there's many uh activities and uh a lot of stuff happening. The public

[45:40] the library has all their summer programming going on for kids. So, uh

[45:45] it's been really good. So, that's about all I have to say.

[45:50] Um so, we will continue on to uh we have no closed sessions tonight. Uh I need a

[45:59] resolution to adopt the confirmation bylaw.

[46:02] Councillor Dave and Councillor Dean. And uh

[46:08] our next scheduled meeting will be August 12th.

[46:12] Uh it's a little sooner because of AMO, so

[46:16] uh for those we will have a four-week holidays

[46:20] for and we'll be back then. So, we need a resolution to adjourn.

[46:25] Councillor Dave and Councillor Bob. Thank you very much.

REGULAR MEETING - 08 Jul 2026

Transcript