[0:17] Adoption of previous meeting. None. Delegation. None. Business arising from

[0:23] minutes of previous meeting. Letters in communication for

[0:27] action. We have none. Letters in communication for information. We have

[0:31] none. Committee and staff reports. One. Tracy.

[0:37] No. No. she assassinated. So, all right. So,

[0:43] this evening we have uh our applicants for council. Um we're going to go in

[0:48] alphabetical order. So, we'll be starting with Alan Goodell.

[0:57] Uh well, good evening and thank you for letting me talk to you this evening. Um

[1:02] last couple days I've racked my brain trying to figure out what I'm going to

[1:06] talk about. It's uh but I think I mean most of you I know most you know at

[1:12] least fairly well we went small together and of course we're on the committee

[1:16] together and and I've talked to pretty much every one of you over the last

[1:20] couple years we've been back up here but I want to I want to go back and talk

[1:24] about my beginnings and with that in mind it's going to give you an idea of

[1:29] what I can bring to the table. Um, I grew up here. I grew up in

[1:34] Bruce Mines, went to Cass, married Deborah Girl, and moved to southern

[1:38] Ontario where I worked for a John Mo dealership for the last 30 some odd

[1:43] years. However, in doing so, I also um worked along with many um committees uh

[1:51] like for instance Jarvis Cornfest. I was involved with numerous committees on

[1:54] that. I I belong to different uh uh board of directors for clubs and

[2:00] associations as well as I became vice president and president of the largest

[2:04] beekeeping association in Ontario. Um of course I became a widowerower about

[2:10] eight years ago and that changed a lot of my plans and I got remarried and lo

[2:15] and behold my wife decided that she loved up here in northern Ontario again.

[2:18] So we started the plan of moving back home and I and I have my entire life

[2:23] I've considered this home. People ask me, "Where am I from?" I said, "Well,

[2:26] Northern Ontario." And I realize that if we're in if we're talking to somebody in

[2:31] Thunder Bay, this is not northern Ontario. But when you're talking to

[2:34] someone in Hamilton, this is Northern Ontario. And I love it up here. I really

[2:38] do. Um, anyways, with the the different things that I've been involved in, um,

[2:45] specifically, uh, when I was president of the Beekeeping Association, I learned

[2:49] that when I ask 20 people the same question, I get 40 answers. And what

[2:54] does that allow me to be able to do? I I I actually was able to sit down with a

[3:01] group of people with different ideas and different opinions and sort through to

[3:06] get a resolution to work. And this happened numerous times over the years.

[3:10] Um the so again the idea that uh working

[3:17] with a group as a team and resolving situations is kind of really one of my

[3:24] goals. That's going to move me into what I would like to accomplish as a council

[3:29] member if I if I'm allowed that opportunity. and uh I already belong to

[3:35] the the committee for uh economic development and tourism and I actually

[3:39] really love the way that we're going with that the the direction we're moving

[3:42] in. I'm seeing little improvements here and there and and it's it's actually

[3:46] quite a bit of fun. I'm I'm really enjoying that and all I really would

[3:50] like to do is in the grand scheme of the entire town, but to move forward with

[3:56] with the direction we're going, you know, just be another positive voice and

[4:01] a helping hand. And that's really all I want to accomplish out of this. Thank

[4:06] you.

[4:13] Next, Shane Lance.

[4:19] Apologize. I'm slow. I broke my leg three weeks ago. Still going.

[4:26] Oh, well, council members, um, the reason I'm here today is because, um, I

[4:31] grew up in this town. Um, I'm a fourth generation Good Murphy Le France. And

[4:37] um when the position came open, I figured that you know it was my time to

[4:42] come back to the community. Um same as my colleague here said, you know, I went

[4:48] away for a while. I'm recently back and when I got back, I started to notice,

[4:52] you know, things that have changed and things that have changed are tourism,

[4:57] it's down, right? That's something we need to work on. Um crime, specifically

[5:04] drugs is up. That's something that needs to be worked

[5:08] on. I am not a politician. I will never claim to be a politician. I don't have

[5:13] any political aspirations beyond this forum here. Um my interest specific rely

[5:20] on this community, building this community back to what it used to be,

[5:24] right? Um and that's pretty much all I've got.

[5:28] I mean, I don't have full five minutes. I'm sorry. Like I said, I'm not a

[5:32] politician. Thank you. Thank you.

[5:38] And next we have

[5:44] Good evening everybody. I do like to talk so you

[5:47] might have to come

[5:50] up. Um so a little bit about me. I was born and raised in Echo Bay. Um I've

[5:57] lived in Bethlon for 10 plus years. My husband um was born and raised in

[6:02] Bethlon. We both work locally. He works for Tele Engineering. I work for

[6:06] Brookfield in War Cliff. Um, we're raising a 10-year-old son in this

[6:12] community and we really like raising a child in this community. Um, we have a

[6:20] great hockey program here. We have excellent recreation programs. There's a

[6:25] lot of positive things for our youth and I would love the opportunity to help and

[6:29] build on that. Um, I grew up on a farm, so you know, I am not afraid to get

[6:35] dirty, help out, do the things that have to be done. Um, as far as my experience

[6:41] in any sort of situation like this, um, my direct experience, I've worked for a

[6:46] local municipality, um, as a treasurer, but also as a acting clerk, um, and in

[6:54] several different roles. When you work in a small municipality, you wear a lot

[6:58] of hats. So um I think I bring a unique perspective. Um I bring knowledge uh and

[7:06] not really needing much of a learning curve. I know how municipal government

[7:11] works. My father was on council in Aqua Bay for 30 plus years. So I'm used to

[7:17] the meetings. You know, I ran meetings. I did minutes. I worked on the other

[7:23] side of the table that council works on. Um, I'm well aware of how a small

[7:30] municipality such as this has very little control over their big items in

[7:35] their budget. So, I'm not looking to come in here and reinvent the wheel. I'm

[7:39] looking to come in and be a compliment to the rest of you. I can see on the

[7:43] wall here there's a huge list of highlights from last year and I would

[7:48] love to help, you know, grow more of this. I think that's amazing. Um

[7:55] so I as far as indirect um experience that I have I worked in the construction

[8:02] field I worked for a small family construction company. I worked for uh

[8:06] Krillian when they built the highway through Echo Bay. So I do have some

[8:09] infrastructure knowledge um and you know knowledge on

[8:15] uh you know budget budgetary things for infrastructure. Um and as far as why I

[8:25] would like to join and why I think I'd be a good fit. Um, one other thing that

[8:31] I want to mention is that I do find a lot in small municipalities there is a

[8:35] lack of diversity on councils. Um, I would love to be another woman on

[8:41] council. Um, I would love to be a role model to young girls in this community

[8:47] that they can also be a part of local governance and you know they don't need

[8:53] to think that it's it's a male role only. Um, so like I said, I'm not

[8:58] looking to come in and reinvent the wheel and lower taxes or do any of those

[9:03] things. I think the way that council has gone in the last several years, they've

[9:08] been doing amaz you've all been doing amazing things and I would like to be a

[9:11] part of that. Okay.

[9:26] Good evening folks. Uh, thank you for the opportunity to come and speak to you

[9:30] today. I will say that I'm not much of a public speaker. I think if any of you

[9:35] know my wife, and I think you all do, she's a speaker in the family, but uh,

[9:39] I'll do my best. I prepared a little something to guide me. So, uh, hopefully

[9:42] we get through it. Okay, bear with me. Um so we we just arrived in the

[9:47] community um a little over two years ago. Uh we live down in southern

[9:51] Georgian Bay. Um we wanted to move to somewhere I I

[9:57] spent most of my life living on or around water. Um so we wanted to come

[10:01] somewhere where we could still live on the water. Um believe it or not was the

[10:06] closest to us that we could actually still afford. Um so when we come up here

[10:10] and we looked at the house uh first time coming into the

[10:13] community immediately felt a familiarity uh and just a sense of comfort here. So

[10:22] when we moved in it's been very comfortable since then. Uh one of the

[10:25] first contacts that we had when we got here uh were Bill and Janine Rosenberg.

[10:29] They were nice enough to come to our house brought us a nice gift basket and

[10:33] welcomed us to the community which was very nice. And uh we very shortly after

[10:38] became friends. Uh my wife was fortunate enough

[10:41] as you know uh while we were still in the process of moving here the job

[10:47] vacancy to town for an administrative assistant and Maria applied and was

[10:52] fortunate enough to get that. Um so in that we were we've now become acquainted

[10:57] with all of you uh with the town with the council how things work.

[11:03] Um, and for my own part, um, I was a few months later moving up. Um, I'm

[11:09] self-employed. I'm a contractor. I was fortunate enough to connect with a local

[11:13] guy here named Steve Netherton. I think we all know. Um, Steve and I have been

[11:17] working together for the last two years. It's been a great experience. Uh, it's

[11:21] allowed me to meet many other people, contractors, suppliers, and everything

[11:25] in the community and, uh, forged some good new relationships, all of which has

[11:30] been very positive. uh that along with the rest of the other

[11:34] people that we've met since we've been here in the town um has really cemented

[11:39] for us that this is where we're going to be for the rest of our

[11:42] time. Um and also it inspired me to get active in the community which is

[11:49] something when I lived in the islands and stuff like that we never had this

[11:54] kind of there were no councils there were no nothing that we could access

[11:59] anyway. So, um, so I kind of wanted to get involved somehow. So, I started

[12:03] volunteering first thing. Uh, got involved with the town of a special

[12:07] events committee, helped with things like the Easter egg hunt for the kids at

[12:10] Peace Park. Um, did some traffic control for the community day parade,

[12:14] volunteered for that. Uh, donated a trailer for community day that they ran

[12:19] their cotton candy thing out of. um also got involved with the trails committee

[12:25] um prior to its opening and did some work on the trails with boardwalks and

[12:28] whatnot. And um this past year Marie and I both joined the drilling club here um

[12:34] got involved in that and I volunteered with the um ice crew doing the ice prep

[12:38] and maintenance on the ice club. All of these experiences have been very

[12:43] positive for me. Um they've all just reinforced that sense of belonging here.

[12:48] um just made us feel that much more comfortable and it motivated me to maybe

[12:52] want to get involved a little higher level. Um so uh I also applied to the

[12:58] fire department to be a volunteer that application still

[13:03] pending. Uh but then this uh position came up with vacancy on council and I

[13:08] decided to fly for that to get involved. Uh so some of my past experience I think

[13:13] that that may add to uh something that I can

[13:17] tribute here are are as follows. I have had extensive experience

[13:22] uh in municipal water treatment distribution. I worked for the town of

[13:26] Middle for eight years as a water operator. During that time I held

[13:30] multiple envir environmental licenses uh water treatment level one, water

[13:34] distribution and supply level two, wastewater treatment level one. I also

[13:39] held Blackwood Place testing certificate. I was responsible for the

[13:43] day-to-day operations of the town's water system during that time which

[13:46] included daily maintenance and operation treatment plants, taking of water

[13:50] samples from the wellsight treatment areas, drug distribution system, and the

[13:54] ongoing maintenance and repair of the distribution system. This included many

[13:59] different aspects. Anything from the repair and installation of individual

[14:03] water services to homes and businesses to water main repair, supervising

[14:08] installation and testing of new infrastructure by contractors, expansion

[14:12] and installation of new pumping and treatment systems and maintenance of

[14:15] storage tanks, reservoirs, and many other duties associated with that

[14:20] municipality water system. I still currently hold a certificate of Q for

[14:25] plumbing and a gas 2 license. I've also had experience working with

[14:31] council. Um I worked for the city of Barry for a period of time. I was hired

[14:35] there to create a backflow prevention bylaw

[14:40] for the city. Uh I was also uh tasked with writing and instituting a backflow

[14:46] prevention program for the city. Um so that involved um of course creation

[14:53] policy. Um it also had involved extensive uh we had to do an extensive

[15:00] public role of um to the public which uh required education and information

[15:05] sessions with local contractors, business owners and the public at large.

[15:11] Um, this also led to me being involved on some committees such as the Ontario

[15:15] Waterworks Association and also the Ontario Plumbing Inspectors Association

[15:19] which involve shaping an information implementation of provincial water

[15:24] regulated provincial water related regulations and plumbing code

[15:28] changes. I've had a lot of experience with marine and marine operations as

[15:33] well. I spent a good part of my life living and working on Georgia Bay. My

[15:37] parents owned and operated a fishing lodge there for more than 45 years,

[15:40] which is where I was born and raised. Um, prior to moving to

[15:44] Thessalon, I spent 14 years as a manager caretaker for a place called Tadak

[15:49] Fishing Club. They're a private members club on southern Georgia Bay. They own

[15:54] approximately 20 square miles of land and water on Georgia Bay. Um there I was

[16:00] responsible for the general maintenance of the entire club which included all

[16:03] its building, mechanical systems, docks, remote facilities and all related

[16:08] equipment such as a bleed of 14 boats, uh various pieces of lawn equipment, a

[16:13] scoot or airboat, chainsaws and other associated equipment. I was also

[16:18] responsible for the club's day-to-day operations uh which included in the

[16:22] springtime training of staff uh through the summer supervising that staff

[16:27] providing transportation logistics for all people and supplies coming to and

[16:31] from the island and also leazing with the club's executive to ensure a smooth

[16:36] operation. Um, I was also responsible for

[16:39] patrolling that 20 square miles of property and enforcing there no

[16:43] trespassing because it's private property in its entirety, including the

[16:48] water. Um, that involves sometimes contact with the public. It can be a

[16:53] little unpleasant because people don't like to be told that they can't be

[16:57] somewhere, particularly when they're on the water. Um so that gave me some

[17:02] experience in um those kinds of confrontations and uh you know sometimes

[17:08] deescalating sometimes trying to find diplomatic

[17:12] solutions. Uh so a little bit of a public liaison there. Uh I think I also

[17:18] have the ability to be a critical thinker. I can see situations from both

[17:22] sides and I able to draw non-biased conclusions.

[17:27] And lastly, I think being self-employed gives me the flexibility to be here when

[17:31] I need to be here. Um, to build a seat, let's say. Um, so to wrap things up, um,

[17:38] this is the place, like I say, we've decided to make our home for the rest of

[17:41] our time. Um, and I think I can make a positive contribution to this council

[17:46] and get involved in, you know, helping to maybe shape the town's future a

[17:50] little bit and ensure that it's a viable community going forward.

[18:05] Hey staff reports resolve the council

[18:22] acknowledged by Tracy, second by Marcel. All in favor?

[18:37] [Music]

[18:41] Yeah. So, before we go into close, we're going to have a quick discussion and

[18:44] close. Um Lindsay is going to escort everybody out for a few minutes. We'll

[18:49] uh discussion and we'll welcome us all back in.

[18:53] in a brief moment.

[19:09] will resume the open meeting. Number three,

[19:11] Marcel opened

[19:21] by Marcel, second by Randy.

[19:30] [Music]

[19:34] Okay, so before we take our open vote, just want to thank everybody for coming

[19:38] out. But we had a really great collection of candidates making it a

[19:41] tough decision. Um hope it doesn't discourage

[19:44] anybody from uh staying on any committees they're on and continuing in

[19:48] their volunteering capacity. I definitely want to encourage everybody

[19:52] to uh to run in the next election. That being said, we'll call

[19:58] the open vote. Thanks. We'll do an open recorded vote. So I'll call upon you say

[20:03] the candidate that you're choosing for the for the new counselor position. So

[20:07] we'll start with councelor Marcel

[20:16] and councelor Kevin King

[20:23] and councelor Randy Ranken

[20:32] oh unfortunately councelor Lindsay Talon is not on doesn't on the vote. And

[20:37] Deputy Mayor Tracy Cook, I just wanted to add that takes a lot of courage to

[20:42] put yourself out there and as a as a candidate. So, I really appreciate you

[20:47] all coming and um looking forward to working with you in other capacities.

[20:52] And I will just add my hope is for

[20:58] Karen in your turn as well.

[21:24] and council appointment number four. be resolved that in accordance with section

[21:29] 2631A of the Municipal Act 200125, council hereby appoints Karen

[21:35] Orchard as a counselor to serve the remainder of the 2022 to 2026 term of

[21:40] council for the town of Thessalon effective upon taking the oath of

[21:44] office. Congratulations

[21:56] [Music]

[22:17] Okay. Moved by Tracy, second by second by Marcel. All in

[22:22] [Music]

[22:30] favor again just want to thank all the candidates and congratulate the US

[22:35] counselor for the town of Thessalon and confirmatory bylaw number

[22:40] 2667. Resolved bylaw number 2667 being the

[22:45] bylaw to confirm the proceedings of the meeting of council held on April 8th,

[22:49] 2025. We passed an open council this 8th day of April 2025.

[22:57] Move by Randy second Marcel. All in

[23:05] favor number six. This meeting will be adjourned at 6:59

[23:17] p.m. Second Marcel. All in favor.

April 8, 2025 - Special Council Meeting - Councillor Vacancy

Transcript