Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick

UNION OF MUNICIPALITIES OF NEW BRUNSWICK

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

November 16, 2012

1. U.M.N.B. held a Board of Directors meeting on Friday, November 16, 2012 in the Garrison Room, Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, Fredericton, NB.

ATTENDANCE

Mayor David Hanson, Rexton / Mayor Arthur Slipp, Woodstock
Councillor Paul Gillespie, Doaktown / Councillor Julie McConaghy, Millville replaced by Mayor Craig Melanson, Hartland
Deputy Mayor George Forsythe, Hillsborough / Councillor Jacqueline Leclair, Dalhousie
Mayor Terry Keating, Salisbury / Councillor Tracy Culligan, Belledune
Mayor Ken Chorley, Hampton / Mayor Richard Keeley, Grand Falls – regrets
Councillor Beth Thompson, Quispamsis / Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase, Fredericton
Mayor Stan Choptiany, Saint Andrews / Mary Jane Banks, President, AMANB
Mayor Teresa James, Blacks Harbour
Mayor Gary Mersereau, Fredericton Junction
Deputy Mayor Gisèle McCaie-Burke, New Maryland / Raymond Murphy, Executive Director

2. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 1900 hours with President David Hanson presiding.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

It was moved by Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase and second by Deputy Mayor George Forsythe to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried

4. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

It was moved by Mayor Terry James and second by Deputy Mayor Gisèle McCaie-Burke to approve the minutes of the September 28th, 2012 Board of Directors meeting as presented.

Motion carried

It was moved by Deputy Mayor George Forsythe and second by Mayor Ken Chorley to approve the minutes of the September 30th, 2012 Board of Directors meeting as presented with the addition of Mary Jane Banks as being in attendance.

Motion carried

It was moved by Mayor Terry Keating and second by Mayor Gary Mersereau to approve the minutes of the Board of Directors conference call on October 19th, 2012 as presented with the addition of Mary Jane Banks as being present.

Motion carried

5. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

(a) Web site update

The Executive Director mentioned that there was still a large amount of work to be done to update the website and that this would be accomplished during the next couple of weeks. This would include minutes, events, Board of Directors and any other information that is now out of date.

(b) Right to Information

The Executive Director provided an update on the issue. He mentioned that more training was taking place at this time. He was unaware how many requests had been made for information since the 1st of September but has learned that there is still concern with respect to what should not be released to the public.

c) Proposed electoral boundary changes

Although hearings were being held around the Province a decision was reached that it would be up to each municipality to decide on whether they would make a presentation since some areas will lose representation and others will gain. UMNB is not in a position to push for one or the other; the main objective is fair representation for all.

(d) AGM slide presentations/documents

A request was made from Directors for the presentations made at our AGM to be sent out electronically to all of our members.

(e) Community Planning Act

The Executive Director mentioned that government’s plan for the next number of months was a revies of present legislation such as the Community Planning Act and the Municipalities Act both of which are outdated legislation. Municipal organizations have been told that they will be part of this initiative although any new legislation will probably wait until after the 2014 election.

(f) Regional Service Commissions

Board members had several questions/concerns over what was happening around the province since there appears to be no consistency anywhere. A belief exists that the process is flawed and there needs to be education around the province as well as some consistency. It was moved by Mayor Terry James and second by Mayor Gary Mersereau that UMNB write to Minister Fitch seeking clarification on which act takes precedence with respect to RSC’s – the Municipalities Act or legislation with respect to RSC’s.

Motion carried

(g) Community Funding Model

This item was tabled to Saturday morning to allow Board members time to review the letter which had been sent by the 3 presidents of the political organizations to Minister Fitch. At that time several concerns were raised by Board members ranging from time periods for gaining or losing $ from the formula, It was explained that a 3 year period would be used for all – those who gained would do so over a 3 year period; those who lost would do so over a 3 year period. It was also mentioned that it was hoped that this new formula would be a short term measure in existence while a committee looked at and reported to government on the whole area of fiscal issues affecting municipalities. All municipal organizations realized that the solution was the best of the worst and that the only way of ensuring total acceptability from our members was to increase the pot of money available something which we were told in plain terms was not going to happen.

6. TREASURER’S REPORT

It was moved by Mayor Gary Mersereau and second by Mayor Stan Choptiany that the financial statement to October 31, 2012 be accepted as presented.

Motion carried

A discussion took place on potential membership of Regional Service Commissions in our organization and a decision was reached that the Executive Director would continue to monitor this and reprt back to the Board.

It was also mentioned that several evaluations from the annual conference suggested a reralignment of zones to reflect the new Regional Service Commissions. The ED also mentioned that with a couple of municipalities possibly dropping membership we might possibley have to look at one Director per zone rather than two.

7. CORRESPONDENCE

It was moved by Mayor Terry James and second by Deputy Mayor Gisèle McCaie-Burke to receive and file correspondence.

Motion carried

8. FEDERATION OF CANADIAN MUNICIPALITIES REPORT

It was moved by Councillor Beth Thompson and second by Deputy Mayor George Forsythe to receive the FCM report for information purposes.

Motion carried

PRESENTATION – Engineering Association of New Brunswick

Under the direction of Executive Director Nadine Boudreau a presentation was made by the association on how they could work with UMNB on infrastructure needs of municipalities. Of particular mention was the Quality Based Selection model used as a Best Practice model for projects.

It was moved by Mayor Terry James and second by Councillor Paul Gillespie to recess until 8:45 Saturday morning.

Motion carried

UNION OF MUNICIPALITIES OF NEW BRUNSWICK

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

November 17, 2012

U.M.N.B. held a Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, November 17, 2012 in the Garrison Room, Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, Fredericton, NB.

ATTENDANCE

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 8h45 hours with President David Hanson presiding.

9. COMMITTEE REPORTS

A. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Nothing to report.

B. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

The Executive Director reported that this year’s annual conference still had some outstanding money to come in but that most had been received. Directors had received their annual general meeting minutes and it was noted that corrections as follows were required –

· Zone reports were presented by Directors Stan Choptiany, Ken Chorley, Terry Keating, and David Hanson rather than those indicated. With those corrections it was moved by Deputy Mayor George Forsythe and second by Mayor Ken Chorley that the 2012 AGM minutes be referred to the 2013 AGM.

Motion carried

· Evaluations indicated that most delegates were satisfied with the conference with the exception of Sunday morning when it was stronly suggested the morning should be dedicated to the annual meeting portion of the conference.

· The Executive Director requested that Directors consider possible themes to suggest at the February Board meeting for the 2013 conference.

· Transportation from Delta to Crowne provided by the City was well received and the City was thanked for providing this.

· The ED will bring to the February Board meeting quotes for the 2015 annual conference to be held in Fredericton. The 2014 conference will be in Saint Andrews and Mayor Choptiany provided an update on what was happening with the Algonquin.

C. MEDIA ADVISORY

It was noted that UMNB has received much coverage over the past number of months and President Hanson continues to be interviewed on many issues. The Executive Director has also been interviewed with President Hanson’s approval on some issues.

D. NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Nothing to report.

E. PERSONNEL

Nothing to report.

F. PROTECTIVE SERVICES

Mayor Slipp reported that this area looks after everything falling under emergency services other than policing. He will be attending a meeting on the 22nd of November dealing with Emergency Services – Disaster Relief. A meeting will be held on the 13th of December of the Minister’s Round Table on Crime Reduction and a SPAC meeting is also planned. The Ed mentioned that he would be arranging a meeting in December to discuss outstanding issues with the Deoartment.

G. RESOLUTIONS/POLICIES/CONSTITUTION

Mayor James reported that letters had been sent to the appropriate Ministers with respect to the resolutions adopted at this year’s conference and that a few replies had been received. Meetings will be arranged to follow up with the different Ministers.

H. Ad Hoc committees -

· Governance/Fiscal Advisory – The Executive Director informed the Board that the Governance committee would meet once the Minister had made the announcement on the Community Funding model and that other meetings would be held as necessary to deal with issues as they arise.

· Conflict Resolution – following discussion on the topic and with the realization that many of our members who had received training were no longer active members of municipal councils it was moved by Mayor Terry James and second by Deputy Mayor George Forsythe that UMNB participate in the training of new members for this committee financially provided that AMANB is willing to do the same.

Motion carried

· RCMP Client Working Group – the Executive Director reported on the meeting of this group held on November 13th in Fredericton. Mayor Elaine English is the other person on this committee but due to the fact that she had nor received early notification from the Department she was unable to attend. Mayor Slipp reported on the RCMP Complaints Commission workshop he attended in Fredericton. Information received from the Commission is to be forwarded to all municipalities by the ED.

· Immigration Committee - the Executive Director indicated that a meeting would be held in December of this group and that Constantine Paradis, chair of the Advisory Group on Immigration would be invited to attend.

· Forestry – Mayor Hanson reported that he and his co-chair Robert Fawcett had met with new Mayors of municipalities on the mission and vision of this committee and that a meeting would be held on the 27th of November in Fredericton.

· Legislative Renewal – Discussion on the new act and the timeliness of working on both this Act and the Planning Act at the same time resulted in a motion by Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase second by Councillor Beth Thompson that a letter be written by UMNB to Minister Fitch requesting that both acts be worked on concurrently and that government provide a target date for this work as indicated by their action plan. Also to be requested would be the objectives of the review and what is expected to be accomplished at the end of the exercise.

Motion carried

It was moved by Deputy Mayor Gisèle McCaie-Burke and second by Mayor Teresa James to accept the committee reports.

Motion carried

10. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

(a) Revenue Generation – set aside to a future meeting.

(b) Community Funding Model – discussed earlier

(c) Municipal assessment Committee update – the ED reported that he had attended the first meeting of this committee in October and that another meeting to discuss specific topics would be held in April. The first meeting dealt with potential areas where information is necessary.

(d) Atlantic Woodworks seminar – October 18th session in Moncton discussed the increasing use of wood by municipalities as well as other levels of government

(e) Official Languages Act – work is still continuing on this legislation with a time line of Spring for legislative changes.

(f) Target 2014 – the ED discussed the new FCM ask for infrastructure as well as President Liebovici’s request for letters of support for the new infrastructure program. A fact sheet will be e-mailed to all members which could provide the necessary information for formatting letters of support.

(g) Committees and membership – the Ed reported that committee memberships had changed so that new members who had indicated an interest in serving on some of our committees could be accommodated. Some municipalites, for the first time, hve representaties on UMNB committees. It was suggested that Peter Wiggins had indicated an interest and the perhaps someone from Fredericton could sit on the Municipal Assistance Police Fund. The ED will follow up on this.

(h) Learning – Eveybody’s Project Conference – the ED reported on this conference held on November 5th and 6th in Fredericton – its vision and purpose. It was moved by Councillor Tracy Culligan and second by Deputy Mayor Gisele McCaie-Burke that we support the initiatives of the NB 2026 project.

Motion carried

(i) Act to Amend RadioCommunication Telecommunications Act – the ED reported on correspondence received from an NDP member of the Opposition on this subject. This is an issue that FCM has been dealing with for many years. It was suggested that if municipalities wish they could support this initiative by writing a letter on the topic.