BARRY’S BAY – With only short pauses in the feed now and again, the April 7 afternoon meetings of the Madawaska Valley Township (MVT) went surprisingly well.
Mayor Kim Love called the 1 pm meeting to order on time and the Council began by passing by-laws relating to its operating during this time of emergency.
In light of the fact that the Province’s March 19 Municipal Emergency Act (MEA) came into effect after its most recent meeting, which was held on March 17, the MVT Council was able at this meeting to emend some of its procedures to allow for conducting its business electronically.
Three by-laws were passed that are connected to the MEA. The first concerned the actual running of Council meetings electronically (By-Law 2020-32). The second was a procurement by-law, which meant that the township can offer and accept tenders electronically (By-Law 2020-33).
The third concerned a provision for the delegation of certain degrees of authority to the Mayor and/or the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in times of emergency, when the Council itself cannot meet. The mayor indicated that, after the passing of the MEA, this measure was now less urgent than it had appeared when the Council first discussed it at its previous meeting, but, nevertheless, it was still a good idea to have it in place. By-Law 2020-34 extends the decision-making authority of the mayor and/or the CAO, and extends their financial discretion. The by-law is in place from March 18 to September 30. To Counsellor Ernie Peplinski’s concern that such a short period of time designated in the by-law might now allow for sufficient subsequent amendments to extend the term, CAO Sue Klatt replied that this would not be a problem.
The next business of the meeting was to consider a by-law to accept federal funding in relation to beach accessibility, specifically, for funding for a wheelchair that can be used on the beach, one that can bring a person across the sand, into the water.
The tender of H&H Construction was formally accepted for the work to be done on Paugh Lake Road. The mayor indicated that since roadwork of this kind is being deemed an essential service, the work would be able to proceed as scheduled. She was also happy to indicate that the pricing for the project was less than had originally been budgeted for.
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