Schreiber council is rethinking cemetery issues and budget planning.

The agenda for this weeks council meeting was very full. After the initial land acknowledgement approval was given to accept the evenings agenda. The first item up was a request to appear before council from Brian (Arn) Hiller. Mr Hiller was there to open up a dialogue with the township and the recent confusion over taxation decisions. He argued that residents in the Walker Lake suburb had no access to water or sewage and was questioning why they pay the highest taxes in spite of the fact that they receive fewer services. This situation has been going on for years and there seems to be no easy way to resolve it as the town has removed itself from the assessment process. Mr Hiller had served on council in the past and was well aware of the previous methods used for assessment and taxation. All funding for operation and repairs to water and sewage must come from the revenue collected from users. Mr Hiller claims that there have been past issues where infrastructure repairs were funded from tax reserves. 
There were no questions for Question Period.
The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as circulated.
The Committee of the Whole resolved that money from the Nuclear Waste reserve fund would be brought forward to cover costs associated with the LNG project which has recently gone dark.The next item involved transfer funds from the sewer surplus fund to the water and sewer reserve. Further transfers to the water and sewage reserve from surplus funds from the same department were approved. Money from the Rec Committee reserve was transferred to cover the outstanding balance from last years Heritage Days events. The Municipal complex boiler project received funds from the Gas Tax reserve as per agreement. A change order that was implemented to accommodate the water repairs to Ontario Street due to overrun costs was accepted. The costs for line painting for the streets was carried. Repairs to the Schreiber Arena roof could be funded by a grant from The Ontario Trillium Fund if approved. Council has agreed to support a request from the municipality of Tweed in respect to a collaboration involving Ontario Hydro and Bell that would allow for high speed internet access through fibre to be strung along hydro poles as opposed to in ground in order to reduce installation costs. Schreiber has also agreed to support an initiative to help reduce spousal and partner violence.
Accounts for payment and debit orders were approved and ratified.
Unfinished Business Highlighted the closure of Scotia Street during the summer months to enable a safer environment for the Splash Pad. The road has always been a thoroughfare for vehicles wishing to shorten the distance when coming into town from the highway and no detour signs exist warning drivers of the change. As a result there have instances of users removing the barriers to allow for access to the downtown core.
A donation was made to the Harvest Cupboard Food Bank.
Committee Reports opened with a discussion of the procurement of a new postage machine.
Director of Operations report mentioned that water restrictions have been put in place due to summer demand caused by lawn watering and car washing. The sweeper machine failed and has been repaired allowing for summer cleanup to continue. The snow plough is also in for repairs. The storm water system certification was also discussed. A full report is due in October in order to develop needs going forward.

A response was sent out to address a presentation at an earlier meeting requesting the town become more involved in the Whitesand Beach area improvements. Historically the town had always maintained the area in a land use agreement with the MNR although it is not owned by the town. The Operations report also summarized the Ontario Street repair project. The realization of the final costs seemed to create a bit of concern amongst the councillors when there could potentially be more streets needing similar repairs in the future.

The cemetery bylaw update was deemed necessary due to the difficulty of burials being done in the winter when the ground is extremely frozen. The new plan allows for storage during the winter months and must be done with respect to the survivors wishes. Increasingly, cremation is becoming more commonplace and there is also a plan to increase the capacity of the columbarium at the cemetery. The costs of internment were also discussed in an effort to help cover operation and maintenance costs that continue to rise. In the same report a quote was received for repairs to the steps at the library and the spillway at the dam which is desperately in need of repairs. If the spillway continues to deteriorate, then it puts the damn at risk of failure. The repairs to the library steps would be done by the same company so it makes sense to do both jobs at the same time. 
Beautification Committee report was presented.
Senior Centre committee report was presented with updates provided by Councillor McGrath. The Summer barbecue has moved to Wednesdays. The seniors Jam Session has proved to be a success and attendance has increased since the first event was held. The membership has now hit 373 residents, over 1/3 of the entire population. The centre continues to innovate and the programme has been very successful. 
Health and safety committee report was updated and presented.
Bylaw Report focussed on ongoing issues with dogs and owners. Bird feeders, which were controversially banned last year, continue to be an issue. 
Fire Department activity report was presented by Chief Jan Morrison. The last month has been extremely hectic as wildfires have been ravaging most of the country and the area north of Superior is no exception. Compliance results were also included in the report.
Water and Waste Water reports from OCWA continued to stress the importance of maintenance and repairs. Ongoing filtration issue are always being addressed and there are currently no major issues.
Aguasabon Chamber of Commerce membership was decided on with the township becoming a member of the chamber.
A donation will be made to the Terrace Bay fish derby this year in the form of a Tee shirt and a hat.
Unfinished Business was focussed on the 2023 preliminary budget. Treasurer Marlene Bottomley presented the update and highlighted taxation increases and service delivery. For the next portion of the meeting there were continuing discussions on various items in the budget proposal. The proposed tariffs would increase capital available to fund ongoing projects according to a wish list created from input requests from various departments and council requests. The relevance of the various items was then discussed, Priority will be given to projects deemed essential and urgent. A Special council meeting will be held later in the week to focus on particular issues arriving from the proposed budget.
Property standards bylaw was discussed and needs to be more thoroughly thought out before implementation. The issue of grandfathering and homeowners responsibility will have to be defined in a clearer fashion.
Upcoming conference attendance is still being determined. The deadline for participation will be decided at the next council meeting.
The draft agreement for the HST withholding decision has been reworked and will be presented at the next council meeting.
A request for the use of the community room by Superior North Community features was approved and will allow for a closer working relationship with the council when considering economic development.
There is a request for a high school student rep to attend council meetings and become more involved in local politics during the upcoming school year starting in September. 
They open meeting then adjourned and council went back into camera to complete the closed session.