Council remuneration figures released

Lakeshoreadvance.com
March 7, 2018
By Scott Nixon

As mandated by the province's Municipal Act, the Municipality of South Huron has released the 2017 statement of remuneration and expenses for members of council and the South Huron police services board.

The Municipal Act states municipalities must release the figures each year before the end of March. South Huron treasurer Sandy Becker presented the statements at council's Feb. 20 meeting.

South Huron council was paid a total of $178,211.57 in remuneration, conference registration, travel and miscellaneous expenses in 2017. The following are the final figures paid to each member of council: Mayor Maureen Cole ($39,636.54), Deputy Mayor David Frayne ($27,430.66), Coun. Craig Hebert ($23,417.74), Coun. Marissa Vaughan ($22,134.81), Coun. Ted Oke ($22,113.33), Coun. Tom Tomes ($21,893.46) and Coun. Wayne DeLuca ($21,585.03).

The police services board was paid a total of $10,965.47 in remuneration, conference registration and travel expenses. Figures for the three members were: board chair Jim Dietrich ($4,443.29), Mark Hartman ($3,385.60) and Cole ($3,136.58).

Other council notes:

Fire department purchase

Council awarded the tender for the replacement of a walk-in rescue apparatus for the South Huron fire department to low bidder Lafleur Industries at a cost of $191,622 plus HST. The municipality received six quotes for the vehicle, ranging from the low Lafleur bid to a high bid of $351,333.63.

As fire chief Andrew Baird explained in his report, there are additional costs with the purchase of the vehicle, including travel and fuel to bring it to South Huron, radio and repeater installation, placing South Huron decals on the vehicle and equipment installation. The total cost is $211,994.55, within the $250,000 that was approved in the 2018 budget.

Community hub/rec centre committee meets

The steering committee for the proposed community hub/rec centre has started meeting. Coun. Hebert, who sits on the committee, said the group recently held its first meeting and went through items such as protocols and terms of reference.

He noted that Dawn Rasenberg chairs the committee, while Mike Ondrejicka is vice-chair.

Hebert said it's an eager committee that looks forward to gathering information for the project. Coun. Ted Oke, who also sits on the committee, said the group is fact finding and he looks forward to the next several months of discussion. He said no decisions have been made yet on recreation facilities or locations.

Hebert noted the committee meetings are open to the public and "we're very transparent."

The committee meets every other Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Carling Room on the second floor at town hall in Exeter. The committee's next meeting is March 13.

Planning for new municipal website

Council awarded a request for proposals for a new municipal website to eSolutions Group at a cost of $29,325 plus HST

The municipality received 10 bids for the work. Two of those were disqualified because they missed the deadline. Of the remaining, eSolutions was deemed to be the best choice based on a number of criteria.

It's expected the new municipal website will be unveiled in the fall.