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The last meeting in August for the Terrace Bay council brought up some issues that the town is currently facing.

A hot topic in the area has to do with Short Term Accommodation or STA’s. These might include bed and breakfast and Air BnB style rentals. On one hand the proliferation of rental units means part time workers in the area have a better chance for finding accommodation during the critical mill shut down phase. The obvious downside is that neighbours are exposed to the transitory nature of those guests and often feel uncertain of the people who might be their new neighbours. Another issue of course can be the guests might be in a holiday mood and can cause a lot disturbances was they celebrate in these temporary homes. Many property owners wishing to offer B&B style rentals are arguing that they have a right to provide theses services and the availability of them can bring more tourism into the area.Terrace Bay council is currently occupied tasked with finding the best compromise as local housing continues to be in short supply. Finally the taxes collected from these rentals benefit the township. Zoning and licensing issues need to be updated and modified bylaws put into place.

Second up was a report from the Public Works director. The big item being discussed was the state of the bulldozer that is used primarily at the landfill site outside of town. The machine has reached the point where costs of repairs don’t justify the added costs. Maintenance of the landfill site is extremely important as the Township of Schreiber also uses the site that is owned and operated by Terrace Bay. The most obvious choice is to replace the unit but with costs of a new machine could run into close to one million dollars. A used bulldozer is currently available to purchase for almost half of the price and might be the wiser choice. The discussion continued and one of the issues centred around the lack of fire safety on the current machine. Of course supply chain issues play a role in procuring any new equipment so a used replacement was agreed upon and passed.

The Treasurer gave a report on surplus properties for sale. The demand for property has led administration to create an agreement with a local realtor in order to expedite the process of sales and acquisition.