LoW council to deal with noise complaints

Ruth Brett
Contributor

The Lake of the Woods Township Council met on Aug.2nd in Morson with Mayor Pizey, Councillors C. Fadden, J. Moen, T. Sepers and B. Lundgren, Clerk P. Giles, Road Supt. E. Pearson and 2 visitors present.
The Mayor declared the public meeting open at 7 pm to consider 1) the rezoning application for Juniper Shores - Phase 3 open space and 2) a proposed "garden suite" in Bergland. Clerk Giles gave his report on the proposals and the notices sent out.
He stated that he had received no inquiries nor concerns regarding either proposal; there were no concerns expressed at the meeting. There was a lengthy discussion on the garden suite issue; on the pros and cons of placing requirements on the owners who simply wanted to move the mobile home completely onto their property rather than encroaching on the neighbour's property. The end result was that Council decided to let the owner just move the mobile home with no restrictions placed on the move. Mayor Pizey closed that part of the meeting at 8pm.
Bills for the month of June in the amount of $87,927.19 were approved for payment.
Road Supt. Pearson reported that he had received some complaints; of noisy neighbours, of an inadequate drainage ditch, and of damage to property and will deal with them according to Council's direction. He reported that the beaver dam on the 49th Parallel Road was removed and also that MTO has begun to mow the roadsides.
Clerk Giles will request a written response from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission indicating whether or not an organization must pay the hall rental fee if they lose money on one of the nights of their weekly activity.
Clerk Giles reported that one of the tax sale properties had been temporarily removed from the list but it will now be placed back on the list for Sept.16th. He explained that someone suggesting that they were representing the owner made a payment but because the owner advised that it was not in his interest to have the sale cancelled, the cancellation was not registered and the money was returned. So the property will be again listed in the tax sales on Sept 16th.
Lake of the Woods Fire Chief, Chris Pollard, has been asked to attend the Sept. meeting and Council would like him to start the reorganization of the Fire Department as soon as possible.
A report from the MNR was received regarding the proposed LoW Conservation Reserve, which encompasses the vast majority of all Crown owned islands on the Lake. Public comments and suggestions regarding the Reserve are due by the end of this month and will be accepted by the Clerk. If more information is needed, please call the Clerk Giles.
The Cemetery bylaws are due to be reviewed. Sitting on the Cemetery Committee are Joann Moen, Karen Sepers and Laurie Pentney.
Mayor Pizey discussed the proposed 2007 closing of the Atikokan Generating Station and reported that it will have a severe impact on the RRDSSAB budget and levy. The Mayor is concerned because of the potential economic effect on LoW Township.
The next meeting will be on Sept. 6th in Morson. This will be a public meeting starting at 6pm to discuss various issues including 1) the continuation of Wards, 2) development proposals for the parking lot area at the Morson government dock, 3) the requirement of certified drawings for all new buildings in the Township. This is important. Members of the community are urged to attend to make your views known. Ask Clerk Giles to be put on the agenda if you wish to make a presentation or speak to any of the issues.