Hilton Township Council Minutes |
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M I N U T E S Special Meeting May 27, 2003 - 7:00 p.m. Council met in the Meeting Room of the Municipal Building on the above date. Present were Reeve Rod Wood and Councillors Pat Garside, Annette Fischer, David Leask and Jim See. Council met on its own to review the performance evaluations for staff and issues relating to employee wages. The Clerk and the Road Superintendent joined the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Council advised staff it had decided to defer any cost-of-living or merit adjustments till the following year. The Clerk was asked to modify the evaluation form for use next year. Council honorariums were compared with neighbouring municipalities and it was agreed to implement a payment of $65/day to council members who attended an all day seminar and $35 for any committee meetings. In the past, no such honorariums had been paid. Correspondence was received from the St. Joseph Island Economic Development Office outlining its achievements over the past year and its plans for 2003. Our municipality contributed $2000 in funding in 2002. The 2003 draft budget included a contribution of $1500, representing a reduction of $500 that has already been paid this year to ADNet. The $500 figure was paid in an effort to attract funding for high speed internet for this area and consequently, improve on economic development options. Council discussed the possibility of starting to build a reserve fund that will eventually represent this municipality’s contribution to the new Sault Ste. Marie hospital. Area municipalities have not yet been advised of what financial commitment they will be expected to make. Following the suggestion of St. Joseph Township, setting aside $10 for each $100,000 of assessment would result in an annual contribution of approximately $3500, building to $35,000 + over the next ten years. Council agreed that now might be the year to start. Such a commitment was not included in the draft budget. Council reviewed the draft budget and noted it resulted in a tax rate slightly lower than last year’s. A breakdown of the increased expenditures detailed the need for the increase in tax revenue: insurance, election, fuel, utilities, additional road construction. Due to the increased assessment, more tax dollars can be raised even with a lower tax rate. The higher assessment will result in an increase to our social services cost but that figure is not yet known. As the social services cost is the most significant expenditure for the municipality (approximately $220,000), the budget will not be finalized until some assurance is given as to what the cost may be. The Clerk provided council members with a report on a building/by-law issue in recognition of Hilton Township’s role as the Employer of the Building Inspector. The matter will be discussed at a regular meeting of the Building and By-law Committee scheduled for May 29, 2003 at 7:00 pm at the Hilton Township Municipal Office. The need to hold a joint meeting of all Island Councils was discussed. It was noted that the Planning Board Budget and Museum Board Budget could be passed by councils at their individual meetings. The idea of moving the joint building inspection service to Jocelyn Township was discussed. Reeve Wood suggested a letter be sent to the Jocelyn Township Council inquiring if they would be interested in taking over the administration of the service. Moved by David Leask 2003-89 Seconded by Jim See Resolved that we do adjourn, Council to meet again on June 4, 2003. ______________________________ Rodney I. Wood, Reeve ______________________________ Valerie Obarymskyj, Clerk Treasurer |