Council postpones controlled burn on Fifth St.

By Ken Johnston
Editor

A planned controlled burn has been cancelled for now.
Monday evening Rainy River Town Council put plans on hold to have the community's volunteer fire department burn down a derelict building at 310 Fifth Street.
Concerns were raised by Gord Prost who lives in that neighbourhood concerning both the environmental impact of burning shingles and possibly asbestos. Prost also noted that the property has many mature trees on it and exposing them to extreme heat would force them to bud early and likely damage them considerably.
Town Clerk Veldron Vogan said that she checked with the town's building inspector regarding whether the house may contain asbestos. "He said that there are many products that contain asbestos and it would be difficult to determine if there are any in the building."
Prost, who arrived at the council meeting about halfway through, said, "Yes but he is not an environmental officer." Prost also made the case for the shingles. "You have a burn pile at the dump but can not burn shingles there so why in town?"
Council did not have the answer and were not clear on who they should ask regarding these concerns. They opted to postpone the controlled burn which was scheduled for this Saturday.
Councillor Brent Anderson said, "When we have the facts we can make a decision."
Prost said that if council were to burn it he would leave town that day to avoid the chemicals. As for the trees he said they could probably survive the heat exposure if they were pruned back extensively before the burn.
Business tax concerns
Roadrunner Motel owner Rob Cooper's recent concerns in letters to the paper were only briefly discussed at the meeting Monday evening.
Council agreed to meet with Mr. Cooper to discuss his concerns over commercial taxes being so high in Rainy River. Clerk Vogan was instructed to set the meeting up for this Friday evening or Saturday morning.
Council also passed a motion rejecting Cooper's request for a vacancy rebate on his property taxes, citing that, "The property did not meet with the necessary criteria."
A raise in pay
Council unanimously passed a motion approving a memorandum of settlement with CUPE Local 65 (the town crew) to settle all wage and fringe benefits for 2009-12. Council gave them a 3% raise each of the four years (12% in total) and also allowed them to have Family Day off with pay in February.
A new Community Coordinator
Council hired Andrew Hartnell as a Community Coordinator Intern. The funding for the position comes from FedNor and the position is similar to the one council hired Anthony Mason for about a year and a half ago. Mason recently had an extension to his contract until this spring.
Council could not say if they will retain Mason beyond May and have two Community Coordinators.
Hiring delayed
Councillors Brent Anderson and Gerry Marchuk both spoke out against a motion brought forth by Councillor Gord Armstrong to hire a consultant to work on a waterfront development project. Armstrong said his committee, Economic Development, are recommending the hiring of a consultant from Fort Frances.
Anderson said that he could not support hiring of a consultant without seeing more details. Council received a $65,000 grant from FedNor to hire the consultant.
Anderson said, "This is unfair to push this through tonight without even two minutes for us to look at the proposals."
Councillor Marchuk said that he understood that there were two proposals and one was a local man that he feels is qualified. "We should be trying to keep some of that money in town and not send it to Fort."
Councillor Armstrong decided to table the motion so council could further review the matter.
Other Business
•Council agreed to pay its 2009 per capita contribution to the Rainy River Future Development Corporation in the amount of $6,062.00.
•Council granted the Northwestern Health Unit a 2008 Charitable Vacancy Rebate of taxes for 2008.
•Council repaid $125,558.57 to reserves. That included $831.51 interest.
•Council ordered 1,000 lapel pins at a cost of $999.50 plus taxes and shipping.
•Council changed its expense bylaw to remove the Government of Canada mileage rate to allow council to determine mileage rates for town staff or employees to claim when on town business.
•April was declared Daffodil Month by council as per the request of the Cancer Society.