Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
KILLALOE – Supply chain issues continue to plague municipal operations. Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards fire chief Bob Gareau and Public Works Superintendent Dean Holly both reported that equipment maintenance and repairs are delayed due to parts availability.
The fire department has a pumper truck in for repair. Gareau reported that he has no timeline on completion because of delays in getting some parts. One part arrived and was not the right one, and the shop is waiting on that part and others.
Holly reported that one of the municipal plow trucks has been in the shop, “for over a month … due to parts availability,” and he asked for patience from residents. He also noted that the recent heavy snowfalls have put his schedule behind somewhat on road grading. Holly also has a 12-year-old bulldozer and 16-year-old front end loader in the shop for repairs. Spring street sweeping will begin once the equipment is returned from the shop.
Holly informed council that the Province of Ontario is moving forward with an initiative to harmonize road supplies across the province and enforce urban standards on rural municipalities which could result in, “more engineering costs for the smaller municipalities.” The province would need to approve any exemptions from the standards which could mean delays in getting work done in smaller municipalities.
He also told council he is somewhat delayed in issuing tenders for road work because he has to recreate his tender documents. He did not reply to an email asking whether the change is due to the new Buy Ontario legislation
Resident complaints
Coun. Ted Browne raised a concern that he received from a resident about runoff flooding on the resident’s property. Browne did not say whether the resident had notified the township in writing or just him and told council he had spoken with Holly about the issue. Browne asked that he and Holly go back to the property to determine if there is anything the township can do to help the water flow.
Browne has been firm, in the past, that no resident complaints can be dealt with unless sent to the municipality in writing.
Coun. Bil Smith then raised a concern about water flow along King Street and that water is stopping, building up and, “going directly into the basement,” of one home on the street.
Holly acknowledged that water is coming from several directions and when there is significant rainfall in the spring with wet and frozen ground, combined with spring runoff, water will collect because it takes time to be absorbed or flow away. He said several homes in the area have water leaking in currently.
Holly tried to explain the infrastructure in place to move water. Smith requested he and Holly go survey the area.
Wayfinding signs
Colton Charbonneau, community development co-ordinator, updated council on the status of the project for developing new wayfinding signs for the municipality. The project is funded through a Rural Ontario Development grant.
His goal, pending final approval of the design from council, is to have the signs installed by mid-June to be ready for the busiest part of tourism season.
Charbonneau declined to provide a sample of the sign graphics.
Fees
Deputy Clerk Tyler Mask presented a proposed updated fee bylaw which consolidates all fees into one document rather than being spread out in different places. The benefit, he said, means, “residents, businesses and staff can easily find all municipal charges in a single document,” and provide for more simple annual review. Staff would also spend less time cross-referencing different bylaws and updating a single bylaw will be more efficient than updating several.
Mask walked council through the entire schedule of fees. The township is required to hold a public meeting before amending a fee bylaw. Mask will work with staff to amend and finalize the proposed fee schedule then post notice of the public meeting.
Mask is working through a similar process with the township building bylaw.
Committee of the Whole
Mayor David Mayville dissolved the various subcommittees of council last year and instituted a committee of the whole structure where all of council serves on every committee rather than a subgroup of council forming a committee that reports back to council.
The County of Renfrew adopted a committee of the whole structure in 2025 because staff and council found significant time was spent explaining activities of the committees to the entire council. The rationale was that, if all members sit on a committee, meetings could be more efficient. The county still has separate chairpeople for each committee of the whole. Mayville did not retain the individual committee chairs when he dissolved the subcommittees. The result, councillors contest, is that the work of those committees is not getting done.
The subcommittees in KHR were not meeting. Work was not getting done at the committees. The main exception being the Human Resources Committee when a staff member needed to be hired.
Council directed staff to review what other neighbouring municipalities do with respect to committees and report back to council at a future date.
robert@thevalleygazette.ca
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