The regular meeting of the Miramichi River Valley Council met in the Council Chambers at 18:00hrs January 2, 2024 with Mayor Russell presiding.

BRING MEETING TO ORDER:

The mayor called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting. 

COUNCIL ATTENDANCE:  Councillor Dwain Hallihan was absent.

GUESTS: Nathan Delong with the media was in attendance.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA               

It was moved by Councillor Gillespie & seconded by Councillor Sharon Vickers to approve agenda as circulated. MOTION CARRIED.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

No conflicts declared.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

It was moved by Councillor Sheasgreen, seconded by Councillor S. Vickers to adopt the minutes, as circulated, of the Regular Council meeting December 12, 2023.  MOTION CARRIED

It was moved by Councillor Sheasgreen, seconded by Councillor M. Vickers to adopt the minutes, as circulated, of the Special Council meeting December 21, 2023.  MOTION CARRIED

BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES

NIL

CORRESPONDENCE

Council has received all correspondence either through email or hard copy in their mailboxes.

BILLS & ACCOUNTS

Moved by Councillor M. Vickers, seconded by Councillor Brennan that the bills in the amount of $28,303.13 be paid. MOTION CARRIED.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: REPORTS ARE ATTACHED

BY-LAWS: Councillor Morgan Vickers had nothing to report.

FIRE DEPARTMENT: Councillor Hallihan was absent.

RCMP: Councillor Sheasgreen reported:

• The elevator was serviced at the firehall in Sunny Corner
• No other issues or concerns to report

EMO:  Councillor Hallihan was absent.

ANIMAL CONTROL:  Councillor Sheasgreen had nothing to report.

STREET LIGHTING: Councillor Gillespie reported that the streetlights by the Enclosure have been added.  Other streetlights have been requested for other areas but have not been installed yet.

LEISURE SERVICES: Councillor Morgan Vickers had nothing to report.

RECREATION: Councillor Brennan had nothing to report.

AMBULANCE NB:  Councillor Gillespie reported that she will be requesting a meeting with Pat Flynn to discuss the issues with lack of coverage in our area.

TOURISM:  Councillor Sheasgreen reported: 

• Work ongoing at the Miramichi River Valley Tourism building in the basement, Brock and Neil have purchased a new oven and vent hood as well as some supplies to build cabinets and counters.
• Once interior work is completed, we should look at waiting to finish the exterior work in the spring when it would be more efficient due to weather and frozen ground would make it difficult to prep.
• I will price out a pre-built gazebo and shed for the Tourism building to see the cost effectiveness of either getting them to build them or buy them pre-built and delivered to the site.

CANADA DAY:  Councillor Brennan had nothing to report.

BEAUTIFICATION: Councillor Sharon Vickers reported that she received many compliments on how beautiful the village looked over the holidays with the wreaths and lights.

ENVIRONMENTAL:  Councillor Sheasgreen reported:

• Environment, I had some concerned citizens contact me about the new company taking over the “Old Mill Dump” area in Strathadam and they were concerned about what it will actually be used for, I contacted Ian Donald from the department of Environment with the Province and had a lengthy conversation with him about it and the concerns that were raised, they have committed to doing some checks on the dump area and welcomed any of us from the council to join if wanted. He has told me that it is being used as a construction and demolition dump and that there will be no household garbage or liquids being dumped at the site. The site will be monitored as per government regulations.
• I have contacted Mr. Devon Matchett from Delway who are the lease owners of the dump site, I told him of some of the concerns raised and asked him to possibly send out a bulletin to area residents or to send it to our office via email or letter and we can post it on social media for residents to read about it, he has committed to doing this once it is fully up and operational, it will eventually be opened to the public and there is an employee starting at the site early this year. I have asked both Mr. Donald and Mr. Matchett to keep us in the loop of any changes made to the lease agreement with the province so we can keep the residents of Miramichi River Valley informed. Mr Matchett has welcomed me to visit the site at anytime and go over the details further. 

PARK: Councillor Brennan reported that the park looked beautiful decorated for the holidays.

UNSIGHTLY PREMISES: Councillor Gillespie reported that we will have access to a bylaw enforcement officer through the Greater Miramichi Regional Service Commission to help with the unsightly premises and other issues.

FINANCE: Mayor Russell reported that the treasurer, Jennifer McLaughlin will present a monthly financial report.

BUILDINGS: Councillor Sharon Vickers reported that the Blackville outdoor rink building is missing some facia and siding.  This will need to be replaced.

Kevin Mountain will stop by the Sunny Corner firehall on Friday to see what is required to add a generator to the building.

WASTEWATER SYSTEM: Councillor Sharon Vickers reported that all levels at the lagoon are normal with no issues.  Councillor Brennan reported that she was advised on December 30 of a manhole cover off on MacLaggan Drive.  Dana Hogan was asked to check into.  He discovered two manhole covers off, he put back on and put pegs on the covers to avoid issues in the future.

PUBLIC WORKS: Councillor Hallihan was absent.

Regional Service Commission: Mayor Russell reported there were no new meetings to report.  All Agendas and minutes are forwarded to Council as they are received.

Publicity & Promotion:  Mayor Russell reported that all promotional postings are on social media or sent out by email.

He attended the following events during the month. 

Dec 12, MRV Council meeting.

Dec 17, Multiculture Event.

Dec 18, Meeting with MLA Dawson.

Dec 20, Meeting with Kris Austin office.

Dec 20, Meeting with Director of EMO.

Dec 20, Meeting with Doaktown Mayor O’Donnell.

Dec 21, MRV Special Budget Meeting.

NEWBUSINESS:

(10.1) Permit for 1373 Howard Road

A discussion was held on 1373 Howard Road building an addition to their house without a permit.  Council will not proceed with an application before the courts to force the property owners to comply with the National Building Code.  A letter will be sent to the property owner advising them to apply for permits in the future for any additional construction.

(10.2) Meeting with Mike Dawson

A discussion was held on the topics council would like to discuss with MLA, Mike Dawson on the January 16 meeting that is scheduled.  An email will be forwarded to Mr. Dawson with the topics included.

Moved by Councillor Gillespie to adjourn the meeting at 18:50.