Revised council remuneration policy on hold

Though town council had passed a resolution at its Jan. 27 meeting to revise a policy to see a more balanced means of paying councillors with and without the town’s benefits package, those changes are now on hold.
At that time, council—with the exception of Coun. Roy Avis—agreed to go forward on terms that councillors who chose not to go with the town’s health plan would receive payment in lieu of benefits.
The current policy calls for those opting for the plan to receive the benefits in addition to their current salary of $10,000.
But at Monday’s committee of the whole meeting, Coun. Avis suggested council take a second look at revising the remuneration policy before passing it as a bylaw.
“I think we’re looking at a range of fairness. We have to take the personalities out, the people out,” he remarked. “I think that the solution is to ask other municipalities and find out the real worth of a councillor.”
Coun. Avis noted municipalities such as Dryden, Kenora, Greenstone, and Kirkland Lake be contacted for information as to how they handle remuneration.
“I’d love to see those comparisons,” noted Coun. Neil Kabel, who chairs the committee of the whole.
Once this information is acquired, council will vote whether or not to revise the policy yet again, or pass the bylaw that was up for vote Monday night.
Currently, councillors without the Liberty Health Plan in question receive $10,000 a year. Those with it receive $10,000 plus the benefits of the roughly $3,500 health plan.
The revised option voted on Jan. 27 would see those councillors receive $10,000 plus the monetary value of the health plan if they chose not to use it.
The four options up for vote at the Jan. 27 meeting were:
•Option one—maintain status quo;
•Option two—councillors who waive the Liberty Health Plan will receive payment in lieu of benefits;
•Option three—total compensation will be equal to base salary (therefore, individuals who wish to participate in the Liberty Health Plan will have premiums deducted from base salary); and
•Option four—no allowance for participation in the Liberty Health Plan.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•referred a request for financial assistance for the 13th-annual Chief Fire Officers’ Conference coming up Sept. 18-21 in Thunder Bay to the Administration and Finance executive committee for a recommendation;
•referred a request from the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce regarding the inclusion of a sprinkler system for the ’52 Canadians Arena in the 2003 or 2004 budget to the Community Services executive committee for a recommendation;
•approved a request from the Canadian Cancer Society to proclaim April “Cancer Month” in the Town of Fort Frances;
•referred bid proposal guidelines for the Ontario Senior Games—Winterfest 2005 to the Community Services executive committee for a recommendation;
•approved issuing a letter of support for the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce’s initiative, “Grow Bonds North”;
•referred a request for financial support from the Rick Hansen Wheels in Motion Foundation to the Community Services executive committee;
•referred a request from Riverside Health Care Facilities Inc. regarding purchase of lots 65 and 65 (Sinclair Avenue boulevard) for a parking lot to Clerk Glenn Treftlin for street closing procedures and CAO Bill Naturkach for sale negotiations;
•referred the submission of an application to the GeoSmart program to facilitate the implementation of Geographic Information Systems to the Planning and Development and Operations and Facilities executive committees for a recommendation;
•referred a request from Pitch-In Ontario for partnership support of Pitch-In Canada Week on April 21-27 to Operations and Facilities for a recommendation; and
•referred a request from the Borderland Thunder to designate the Dudley Hewitt Cup as a special event (to allow their team to access exclusive concession rights and revenues for the duration of the tournament) to the Community Services and Administration and Finance executive committees for a recommendation.