Summary of the January 18, 2023, Town Council Meeting

A replay of the Town Council meeting is available on our YouTube channel. The official minutes of the meeting are also available on our website.

MAYOR’S UPDATE

The Mayor followed up on the following issues:

  • The Mayor wished everyone a Happy New Year.
  • The power outage that hit on December 23 and left the entire town without power. We had a good crisis management system: a reception center was opened.
  • Year-end review 2022: in the interests of good management, we had to face reality. We had to make decisions that were not necessarily easy, in the interest of the entire population.
    • We have priority files to manage:
      • Water issue: the MRC has put in place a moratorium (RCI) for the freezing of construction in the mountains and the Town will now assume responsibility for this.
      • Climate change and economic development: Climate change is a major concern that challenges tourism and requires an economic development strategy.
      • Electricity: this is a serious problem in Sutton as demonstrated by the December 23rd blackout. Our network, which is at 49 KV (kilovolt), should be upgraded to 120 KV (higher lines, but less impacted by trees). Reflection to be done on energy management: meetings are underway at the MRC with Hydro-Quebec to rethink the electrical distribution system in Brome-Missisquoi and particularly in Sutton which is the weak link at the end of the network. Important decisions will have to be made on the construction of a new network and its maintenance and on the management of trees.
      • Housing crisis: we have been working on several projects in 2022 that will be presented soon.
      • Urban plan: a revision will be proposed that will give an overall vision of our needs in terms of housing.
      • Village Core establishing a comprehensive plan: The entire Dream Sutton operation took place in 2022. The survey received 1116 responses which is considerable.
      • Rehabilitation of our infrastructure: the major project this year is the renovation of Western Street, north section, and we need to think about how to approach the rehabilitation of our infrastructure.
      • Short-term rentals: documents have been published, two meetings have been held and we have had some very interesting comments that will be published on our website along with the Town’s responses; an information meeting will be held in February regarding the Town’s responses and a professor from McGill will come.
  • Inter-regional transportation: a petition that the Town will support is circulating to request the reinstatement of public transportation between Sutton-Cowansville-Bromont (exit 74); the MRC mayors and the MNA’s office have agreed to support this initiative.
  • Councillor Marc-André Blain mentioned the opinion letter published in Le Devoir : Un vrai débat énergétique s’impose au Québec that underlined the contribution of 4 of the 80 signatories committed to the environment who are from Sutton: Sylvie Berthiaume, Louise Gratton, Éric Pinault and Thibault Rehn.
  • On behalf of the Town, Councillor Lynda Graham congratulated two young Sutton athletes: Clara Chapman, who qualified for the Snowboard Cross finals at the World University Games in Lake Placid in January, and Lili Plante, who, along with her teammate, won the gold medal at the Canadian Elite and Masters Championships in track cycling.
  • The Quality of Life Advisory Committee is recruiting a young member between the ages of 18 and 30 to contribute to the development of the participatory budget project that concerns the entire population and youth.

BY-LAWS/REGISTRATION

  • Adoption of the draft by-law number 114-3-2023 entitled “By-law amending the Urban Plan By-law number 114-1 as amended, in order to address issues related to the availability of drinking water on the territory, as well as to identify specific orientations and actions related to these issues”: amendment to add land in the Academy sector and to define the sectors concerned by the Interim Control Resolution (ICR) adopted by the MRC [and which will soon be under the control of the Town].
  • Tabling of draft by-law number 198-2-2023 entitled “By-law amending by-law number 198 constituting the Planning and Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (PSDAC) in order to modify the number of members chosen from among the residents of the town and to update certain articles”: it is a matter of adding a 6th citizen member to promote better representativeness, to define the 2-year term of office from the date of appointment and to define the indexation of the members’ attendance fees.
  • Adoption of by-law number 321 entitled “By-law imposing general and special property taxes and compensations for the year 2023”. The vote was requested: the council voted (3 votes for, 2 against) for the adoption. The members who wished to do so spoke on the reasons for their vote.

ADMINISTRATION/EMPLOYEES

  • Maintaining the recognition of the Town of Sutton’s status as a bilingual municipality: this is a recognition of the historical contribution of English-speaking citizens who still represent a quarter of our population. We want to be an inclusive community. This recognition does not take anything away from or impose anything on Francophone citizens. Please note that the Town is not obligated to translate into English, but makes its best efforts to do so.
  • Adoption of Resolution 2023-01-013 on the commitment to take concrete action in the context of COP15 to live in harmony with nature, stop the decline of nature and halt the loss of biodiversity. Municipalities can participate locally.
  • Adoption of Resolution 2023-01-014 to support the petition “Bring back public transit to Sutton!” Sutton-Exit 74 from Highway 10
  • Hiring of :
    • Sarah Girard as Aquatic Coordinator for the 2023 summer season  
    • Makayla Foster as Day Camp Coordinator for the 2023 summer season
    • Frédéric Lemay as Responsible for the Maintenance and Supervision of the Gymnasium
  • Changes in the schedule of the registry secretaries: one of the secretaries now works three days a week while the second works the other two days.
  • Benoit Pinchaud has resigned as First Responder and the Town thanks him for his service.

URBANISM

  • Adoption of Interim Control Resolution (RCI) 2023-01-017 concerning drinking water supply issues: this resolution replaces, as planned, the ICR adopted by the MRC concerning the temporary freeze on construction in the mountain sector.
  • Indexation of the remuneration of the non-elected members of the CCUDD for the year 2023: the rate is that of the IPC Canada of September: 6.9%, which is the same rate as the elected members.
  • All discretionary decisions related to planning applications are available in the minutes of the meeting, or in the recording of the meeting on YouTube.

PUBLIC WORKS

  • Payment of the 3rd instalment of $6,580.72 to Pavages Maska inc. for work done on the North Sutton and Draper roads rehabilitation project (half of which is financed by the MTQ).
  • Authorized a budget transfer for the supply and installation of a windshield washer fluid tank at the municipal garage for an amount not to exceed $3,000: this will reduce the cost to 69 ₵/L from the current 1.25 ₵/L and eliminate plastic containers.
  • Authorization to file a Certification of Completion with the Department of Transportation under the Local Roads Assistance Program (LRAP) – Turnaround and Acceleration Component for eligible work on the Mountain Street Rehabilitation Project: certification of this work, which took place in June 2021, will qualify for the $34,000 grant.
  • Appropriation of an amount not exceeding $23,800 from the “Wastewater” surplus for the supply and installation of two blowers: to replace the two blowers at the end of their life that are used to inject air into aerated ponds.

RECREATION, COMMUNITY LIFE AND CULTURE

  • Support and financial contribution of the Town of Sutton to the request to the Investment Readiness Program (IRP) of the group of organizations for a project concerning a community center for Sutton: the members of council who wished to do so expressed themselves on the question. Unanimous proposal to postpone to February 1st to meet with the group and obtain information.
  • Adoption of salary schedules for Summer 2023 Recreation Coordinators: same amounts as 2022, indexed by 3%.
  • Authorization granted to the Défi Vélo Mag des Cantons-de-l’Est on September 9, 2023.
  • Municipal contribution to the Brome-Missisquoi Pact – Pôle Sutton 2023: for more details, see page 25 of the minutes.
  • Membership of the Cultural Policy Monitoring Committee to be reviewed in 2023: see page 26 of the minutes for details.

QUESTION PERIOD

This is a summary of the questions and answers. Presentations that do not include questions will not be included in the summary. For the full content of the discussion during the question-and-answer sessions, please listen to the session online on YouTube. Additional [information] may be added for clarification or new information.  

  • The procedure is that the budget is prepared by the administration and presented to council members 18 days before the vote: was this process followed in 2022 and 2023, what will the procedure be in the future, and will councilors be involved? ANSWER: the budget was presented 18 days prior to the meeting to councilors and council discussions focused on possible solutions to balance the increase in expenses (only 3%) with revenues.
  • Short-term rental: is it possible to know the legal opinion on grandfathering? ANSWER: It will be given at the meeting scheduled in February.
  • Filing of a petition signed by some 700 people requesting a review of the budget: in view of these signatures, are you prepared to postpone the adoption of By-law No. 321 to review the budget? ANSWER: No, for the reasons already mentioned.
  • Are you legally current on your actions? ANSWER: Yes.
  • Question to Councillors: Are you satisfied with the way the budget currently works? ANSWER: [for more details, see the answers given by elected officials when viewing the video starting at 33:15].
  • What are the terms of the large transaction the Town made in 2022 that was not disclosed? ANSWER: It is [two] large transfer taxes received by the Town as a result of a real estate transaction. The names do not have to be disclosed.
  • In 2017, the budget was $10.2M, we are close to $16M, are we going to get to $20M? ANSWER: It is impossible for a town like Sutton to live with the $10M budget of 2017.
  • Would it be possible to repaint the bike arch that was donated to the Town in 2009 for the 25th anniversary of the Americas Cup? ANSWER: We will look into it [it has since been included in the 2023 Public Works specifications].
  • Is there provision in the RCI for water protection in the village area? ANSWER: The village area is included in the Academy area where the village well is located and provides water to the village. | Could the names of the adjoining streets be added to the map? ANSWER: To be determined.
  • Dream Sutton : Why was it the mayor who met with the 430 citizens? Who did the survey on the village core? ANSWER: the survey was done by the administration, with the participation of the mayor; the mayor met the citizens with Mrs. Julie Lavallée who was under the mandate of the general director.
  • Would it be possible to establish criteria for membership on the CCUDD (knowledge/non-knowledge of planning)? ANSWER: The current committee is excellent. A common choice was made to meet with the candidates to keep the balance.
  • Can we address the issue of the gas station not having a generator during the outage? ANSWER: This is a priority for the Town, and we have already approached Couche-Tard.
  • Isn’t the terrain of the Vieux-Verger hilly? ANSWER: No, there is a plateau.
  • What is happening with the Quality of Life Committee? ANSWER: The committee is constantly working and has had several meetings [see all minutes on website]. The priority issue for the committee is the participatory budget. One member needs to be replaced.
  • What is going on with the dog park and the suggestion to do it near the municipal garage? ANSWER: Meetings are scheduled with the committee, it is progressing, but it is not the priority.
  • When will the annual report on first responders be tabled? ANSWER: It is not ready at this time.

Next council meeting: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 7:30 pm.

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