Second Meeting of Schreiber Council for March 2022

The final meeting for March started with a rather interesting presentation by Erin Orr in regards to the townships Asset Management Plan. The plan provides a summary of the town's current infrastructure. Having a formal asset management plan gives municipalities a snapshot of the financial health of the town. The information within can help guide the creation of budgets and identifies the strengths and weaknesses within the actual corporation. Every municipality in Ontario has to adopt an asset management plan according to Ontario regulation 588/17. This draft of the plan extends into 2065 with regular 2 year updates to be considered.

Council meeting resumed after the presentation with a motion to accept the minutes from the previous meetings.

• Various Water reports from OCWA were accepted.
• Purchase of Ukrainian flag was passed.
• Bylaw to borrow for capital expenditures and public works was carried.
• A bylaw to finalize the sale of the old hardware store on Winnipeg Street was accepted.

Committee of the Whole:

• Director of Operations report highlighted the status of the loader purchase and a decision was made as to which model would be best suited based on price and availability. Total cost will be close to $270,000+
• Budget survey results were discussed. The survey has been conducted every year for the last 3 years and the data is being collaborated and will be made available to the public in the near future. No specific details were given but suggestions from the public will be considered once the budget is finalized. Sidewalks and roads seem to be top priorities for most residents. Some issues are already being addressed in the background.
• Senior Program coordinator report shows that membership in the senior centre is growing with new programs being taken up by some seniors. New programs are being considered and new grants are being pursued.
• Recreation and festivities report is focused on the upcoming Heritage Days event. Costs for advertising are being reworked. Some artists are unable to commit to the suggested dates and as a result the committee is trying to recruit local talent. The grand opening of the Discovery Centre is lurking in the wings and will be a large focus of the Heritage Days festival.
• Fire department report noted an increase in accidents and emergency calls with more responses and engagements than the previous year. Winter often brings an increase in emergency calls as the quality of the roads are often compromised by extreme weather conditions. Mandatory training will be highlighted in next months meeting. Pays Plat will be taking delivery of the fire truck in May and there will be more collaborations between Schreiber and the first nations community of Pawgwasheeng.
• Communications highlighted a bursary to students who partake in volunteer work. Housing affordability was another issue that presented itself with regulations to building codes being a concern. Not all municipalities want a cookie cutter approach to development and heritage homes have different considerations. 

Other Business:

• Thunder Bay District league annual general meeting will go ahead via Zoom. 
• Amending the zoning bylaw to clarify building on empty lots and how to increase the usage of available lots for housing rather than garage additions to adjacent lots. Many empty serviced lots have been purchased in the past just to build garages on them and does nothing to increase the tax base and resulting revenues.