By Chad Ingram

Published Oct. 19 2017

The following are brief reports of items discussed during an Oct. 12 Minden Hills committee-of-the-whole meeting.

The township will hire Landmark Municipal Services to clean the Minden water tower at a cost of $16800 including taxes. The township will sole-source the contract after a request for proposals attracted few bidders.
“We’re so far north it’s such a small job” property and environmental operations manager Ivan Ingram told members of council.
With an HST rebate the unbudgeted overrun for the service will be $112 an amount Ingram’s report indicated could easily be managed within budgeted expenditure lines.
The water tower was constructed in 2010.

OPP billing

The township has received its OPP requisition for 2018. In the fourth year of a new billing formula the phase-in for which began in 2015 Minden’s OPP bill will be $1.93 million a slight decrease from $1.95 million in 2017. Since the new billing model which counts seasonal residences as households was initiated in 2015. Minden Hills has seen its policing cost increase by more than $700000.
Councillor Pam Sayne said she would like to see an OPP officer give councillors an update on police activities.
Reeve Brent Devlin said the county’s community policing advisory committee does meet with OPP members although “much of what is in that meeting is not open to the public.”
Sayne said she would like more information just generally about the activities of the OPP.
“What they wish to share with the public they share with the public” Devolin said “but I’ll ask the question.”

Preparing for election

Minden Hills will hire company Intelivote Services to conduct the 2018 municipal election. An invitational tender to host the election was sent to five electronic voting companies with two companies responding with bids. Of the two bidders Intelivote had the lower bid at just less than $33000 including taxes. The 2018 Minden Hills election which will take in place in October of next year will use telephone and internet voting as alternative voting methods. Minden Hills also used telephone and internet voting for the 2014 election.