N E W S
The layoff of the three municipal em- ployees for the Town of Hawkesbury is creating some controversy. Three people are getting layoff notices from the municipality. The concern is over how those layoffs were determined and how the three people getting laid off first heard about the situation. During the June 16 teleconference com- mittee of the whole session of council, there was a lengthy in-camera portion that involved discussion of a personnel mat- ter. When council members came out of the closed session, Mayor Paula Assaly then asked for approval of directive on the personnel issue discussed during the closed-door portion of the meeting. The issue concerned laying off three municipal employees. Chief Administrator Daniel Gatien warned council that it was making a mistake voting on the directive because it was making the layoffs public knowledge, even without the names being mentioned, before the employees them- selves had even received a proper written notice. Mayor Assaly argued that the vote was based on a directive from the closed session. The mayor later confirmed that Kim Maurice, aquatics supervisor at the Rob- ert Hartley Sports Complex, and Martin Desrosiers with the municipal infrastructure department, were two of the three staff members laid off. The layoff of Maurice has prompted one Hawkesbury resident to launch an online petition demanding council reconsider its decision.— EAP newsroom SURPRISE MUNICIPAL LAYOFFS
UNCERTAIN FUTURE NOW FOR PR TRANSPO
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Whether or not Prescott-Russell’s public transit project continues to run may depend on the opinion of the provincial government. The future for the PR Transpo project was one of the main topics for discussion during the June 24 session of the United Counties of Prescott-Russell’s (UCPR) eco- nomic development committee. Warden Pierre Leroux, who sits on all of the UCPR’s advisory committees, expressed concern about whether the regional transit system will prove financially viable. “I have my doubts that a private operator will be willing to take it over,” Leroux said. Both Alfred-Plantagenet Mayor Stéphane Sarrazin, who chairs the economic develop- ment committee, and Casselman Mayor Daniel Lafleur, who sits on it, expressed optimism about the future viability and need for PR Transpo. The UCPR received a provincial govern- ment transportation fund grant to finance a four-year pilot project for rural public transit. The province is funding similar pilot projects in other communities. One of the goals of the projects is to determine if there is sufficient demand for rural public transit to make it viable enough to attract the interest of the private sector. The original plan for the PR Transpo proj- ect was to have it in operation last summer in time to benefit from the tourism trade. But
The future for the PR Transpo project may now rest with the provincial government. The project received provincial financing to get underway but ridership numbers have not been high during the few months of operation before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in suspension of the regional transit service. Now the United Counties of Prescott-Russell will ask the province whether or not it can use the rest of the PR Transpo program grant for other transportation-related needs. —archives
unforeseen planning delays saw the regional transit system roll out the beginning of last October instead. PR Transpo operated for about five months before the COVID-19 pandemic situation resulted in its suspension. Carole Lavigne, UCPR economic development director, noted during a later interview that the ridership numbers started to show a definite increase in January and February of this year. Whether
that increase would have continued into the spring, she added, is unknown because of the pandemic.
The economic development committee di- rected Lavigne to find out from the provincial government whether or not the UCPR must use the PR Transpo project’s transportation grant to continue operating a regional public transit service or if the grant can go towards another transportation-related project. UCPR SHOOTS FOR SEPTEMBER OFFICE REOPENING
INVESTIR LOCAL LES SERVICES OFFERTS ICI sont consommés localement!
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
are now back at the office but access is still closed to the general public with one exception. Limited entry is allowed for individuals who need to go to the provincial offences and court registry office on the second floor of the building. They have to phone ahead to make arrangements for entry and then wait outside the door until the attending UCPR employee lets them inside to go straight upstairs to the registry area and then back out again once they are finished. UCPR administration is now working on a plan to have full public access again to the UCPR office during the first full week of September. Parisien noted that it also depends on the state of the pandemic situ- ation in Ontario at that time.
If a second wave of COVID-19 doesn’t happen the office doors for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell could re- open to the public in September. “At the very least,” said Stéphane Pa- risien, chief administrator for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR), during the June 24 teleconference session for council. The UCPR main office on Court Street in L’Orignal has been closed, with all staff working from home, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring. With the start of the provincial government’s economic restart plan for Ontario, a few staff members
Fier collaborateur du Panier Bleu
Membre d’Hebdos Québec
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator