Seulement disponible en anglais pour le moment

Municipality of the District of Clare
COUNCIL-IN-COMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at 7:00 pm
Meeting held at 1185 Highway 1, Little Brook

PRESENT:Council: Deputy Warden Eric Pothier, Councillors Réanne Evans, Danny Hill, Réanne Cooper, Carl Deveau, Steven Comeau, and Nadine Comeau
Staff: CAO, Stéphane Cyr, Director of Finance, Christien Deveau, Executive Assistant, Ashley Hanks, and Communications Officer, Anique Dugas
Presenters:
ABSENT: Warden Yvon LeBlanc

1) Call to Order
The Deputy Warden called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.

2) Approval of the Agenda

MOVED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Réanne Cooper that the proposed agenda be approved as circulated.
MOTION CARRIED

3) Declaration of Conflict of Interest.
None.

4) Presentations
None.

5) Staff Reports  
5.1 Financial Update – Christien Deveau, Director of Finance
The Director of Finance provided an overview of the Municipality’s financial position. (See attached)

6) Business Arising from Previous Meetings
None.

7) NEW BUSINESS
7.1 Western Regional Enterprise Network (WREN) Inter-Municipal Agreement
The WREN Inter-Municipal Agreement is up for renewal. A new, updated document has been prepared and reviewed by both provincial officials and municipal CAOs. With this review now complete and the requested revisions made, the agreement has now been presented to member municipal units for signature. That said, Council passed the following motion to recommend:

PROPOSED BY Councillor Nadine Comeau and SECONDED BY Councillor Réanne Cooper that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend approving and authorizing the Warden and Chief Administrative Officer to execute the 2025-2030 Western Regional Enterprise Network (WREN) Inter-Municipal Agreement as presented.
MOTION CARRIED

7.2 Digby County REMO Advisory Committee
The Municipalities of Digby and Clare, as well as the Town of Digby, have recently signed an inter-municipal emergency services agreement as part of ongoing efforts to provide a coordinated response to an emergency occurring within the County of Digby. The planning for and coordination of emergency service delivery during a real or imminent emergency as defined by the Emergency Management Act shall be provided by the newly formed Digby County Regional Emergency Management Organization (REMO).  As part the aforementioned inter-municipal agreement, each member municipal unit must appoint its Warden/Mayor and one municipal councillor to sit on the REMO Advisory Committee. Furthermore, in the case of the Municipality of Clare, the establishment of this new REMO for Digby County effectively renders the Clare EMO redundant and obsolete. In light of these recent developments and in an effort to comply with provincial legislation, Council passed the following two motions to recommend:

PROPOSED BY Councillor Danny Hill and SECONDED BY Councillor Réanne Cooper that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend appointing Warden Yvon LeBlanc and Councillor Carl Deveau to the Digby County Regional Emergency Management Organization’s Regional Emergency Management Advisory Committee.
MOTION CARRIED

PROPOSED BY Councillor Nadine Comeau and SECONDED BY Councillor Danny Hill that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend dissolving the Municipality’s Emergency Management Organization (EMO) Committee.
MOTION CARRIED

7.3 Wastewater, Clare Health Centre
For some time now, the Clare Health Centre (CHC) has been having issues with their wastewater system. More specifically, two pumps are not functioning properly which in turn triggers alarms and necessitates costly pump repairs or replacements. To be clear, these issues pre-date the recent expansion to the CHC and efforts to resolve the issue have thus far proven unsuccessful. Although the Municipality continues to engage with third party technicians in the hopes of resolving this issue, staff has begun exploring an alternative solution which involves connecting the wastewater system to the lift station on the John Thibodeau Road via a gravity fed line. Pricing has been obtained but previous approvals from the neighboring landowner need to be revisited and confirmed. These discussions will take place soon and assuming these existing problems persist, the CAO will brief Council accordingly and request the necessary funds to proceed with the aforementioned alternative solution.

7.4 Entrance Office, Clare Health Centre
The construction of a new office at the entrance of the Clare Health Centre is included in the Municipality’s 2025-26 Capital Budget. Cost for the construction of this office was estimated by industry at $10,000. The tendering process for this small project only generated 1 bid which was nearly 4 times the budgeted amount. As such, the bid was refused, and the project was once again tendered. The second tendering process yielded 2 bids, with a low bid of $19,500 plus HST. Whereas municipal staff have tendered this project on two separate occasions and whereas the construction of this office has been proposed to ensure staff safety (i.e., based on recent events which prompted concerns from both management and the Municipality’s OHS Committee), it is the CAO’s recommendation that Council  accept the bid from Wilmax Construction Limited in the amount of $19,500 plus HST. Council agreed and made the following motion to recommend:

PROPOSED BY Councillor Carl Deveau and SECONDED BY Councillor Réanne Evans that the Council for the Municipality of the District of Clare recommend accepting the proposal from Wilmax Construction Limited for the construction of a new entrance office at the Clare Health Centre in the amount of $19,500 plus HST and that these funds be taken from the Municipality’s Capital Reserve.
MOTION CARRIED

7.5 Highway 101 Task Force
The Municipality of Clare, as well as the municipal units from Annapolis to Argyle, received a letter from the Municipality of Digby regarding its intention to move forward with the revitalization of the Highway 101 Task Force. (See attached) The purpose of the Task Force is to advocate for the timely completion of Highway 101 between Digby and Weymouth. Its advocacy work was instrumental in getting the section of Highway 101 from Digby to Marshalltown completed and now the Municipality of Digby is seeking to once again mobilize the task force and complete the remaining section of Highway 101 from Marshalltown to Weymouth. The Municipality of Clare has the Highway 101 Task Force as one of its standing committees. Municipal representation is comprised of the Warden and Councillor Danny Hill. Both underscored the importance of completing this section of Highway 101 and confirmed their willingness to continue their involvement with the Task Force.

8) Questions and Comments from the Public
Ashley Hanks commented that any effort to complete this section of highway would be greatly appreciated. Ashley was in a serious front on collision in November of 2023 on this section of highway and understands firsthand how dangerous it is.

9) Closed Session
PROPOSED BY Councillor Réanne Evans and SECONDED BY Councillor Nadine Comeau that Council proceed to closed session.
MOTION CARRIED

Topics Discussed:
9.1 Contract Negotiations
9.2 Acquisition and Sale of Municipal Property
9.3 Personnel Matters

PROPOSED BY Councillor Nadine Comeau and SECONDED BY Councillor Steven Comeau that Council proceed to the Regular Council Meeting.
MOTION CARRIED

9) Date and time of the next Council-in-Committee Meeting
The next Council-in-Committee Meeting will be held on December 3, 2025, at 7:00 pm.

10) Adjournment
PROPOSED BY Councillor Réanne Evans to adjourn the meeting at 8:33 pm.

Submitted by
Ashley Hanks
Executive Assistant