Cal Huntley doesn’t view cottage country annexation as “a solution” and may be open to lifting Flin Flon’s ban on new water meters.
Mayor George Fontaine wants Flin Flon to be “a full participant” if nuclear waste is stored in Creighton and believes a group effort is needed to sustain municipal services.
Those were among the revelations Tuesday evening as Flin Flon’s main mayoral contenders met one last time before voters head to the polls next week.
Fontaine and Huntley, along with 40-plus residents, attended a public forum hosted by the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce and held at the city hall council chambers.
An early question dealt with a major controversy: cottage country annexation. Candidates were asked how Flin Flon can best forge funding partnerships with its neighbours and whether annexation of cottage subdivisions should be part of the solution.
Fontaine said the city will try to maintain “cordial relationships” but will not mimic the “poor agreement” the Town of The Pas has with its neighbouring cottagers. That’s something advocated by many Flin Flon area cottagers.
Annexation “shouldn’t be used as a weapon,” Fontaine said, but it has “been mentioned before because that’s a tool that’s allowed through the government.”
Added Fontaine: “When the other tool was removal of service [fire protection], we used them both. It’s possible.”
For his part, Huntley said good working relationships involve “honesty, equality of representation and looking for opportunities which benefit all parties.”
In terms of the “city-cottage situation,” Huntley suggested that “personalities and positions have taken over the conversation, leading us to where we are presently at.”
Huntley said he believes both sides can reach “a meaningful resolve” in “fairly short order,” agreeing on “something that works for both parties” by approaching the situation differently.
“Is annexation part of this?” Huntley continued. “It remains a part of the conversation at this time, but I don’t see it as a solution.”
Another question revolved around the future of recreational buildings and whether either candidate would favour shutting down a public facility.
Huntley said he would not support closure of a rec facility and is committed to maintaining existing services.
The city must lobby “more successfully” upper levels of government for help with infrastructure, Huntley added, and “work on partnerships and similar synergies with all stakeholders to use the resources we presently have as effectively as possible.”
Fontaine stressed he is “not looking to close any buildings,” but “if we’re forced into at some point” the city would have to “follow through in due course.”
The city has approached outside users of the facilities and made it clear that “it’s not affordable for a small group to keep all these buildings the way we do,” Fontaine said.
In hopes of spreading out the cost of the facilities, Fontaine said the city “will continue to push to get some income and to get some cooperation” from surrounding communities and unorganized areas.
On a different hot-button topic, both candidates agreed on the need to remain open-minded as neighbouring Creighton explores the potential of storing nuclear waste.
Fontaine said Creighton is a “credible contender” for nuclear waste storage and that Flin Flon would be “a full participant” if the concept ever materializes.
Fontaine said his position is that people should get informed on the issue and voice their opinions.
“There’s some great economic potential there, so you don’t want to just poo-poo the idea out of hand,” Fontaine added.
Huntley said the project is in the preliminary stage, but if it continues to proceed there would have to be “some very hard conversations” around safety.
If the project was proven safe, Huntley said, “it’s certainly something we would have to consider because we’d certainly get some of the benefits from it being in the region.”
Added Huntley: “If you’re committed to economic diversity, and we are a one-industry town, I think it’s something that you really have to consider.”
When talk turned to Flin Flon’s infrastructure, Huntley spoke of the need for a long-term plan that takes into account emergency work.
Huntley advocated a “quality control program” for the utilities department so that “rework” is eliminated.
Fontaine said the city can put top priority on a particular project, but a project further down the list can then take precedence if it is an emergency.
In terms of prioritizing infrastructure projects, Fontaine said “it will always be a moving target.”
On one of his signature policies, Fontaine said he favours applying for a four-year extension of Flin Flon’s special services levy, introduced in 2014.
But the levy, designed to narrow the tax gap between low-end and high-end properties, would not be applied the same way under Fontaine.
Fontaine said a tax cut enjoyed by businesses under the levy this year would end, bringing commercial tax rates back to where they were in 2013.
Huntley said he would like to further examine the levy and its possible extension “because I believe there are some problems with it.”
Huntley said he would prefer a base tax to the levy. The Manitoba government, however, won’t let municipalities charge a base tax.
Flin Flon’s third mayoral candidate, Robin James, did not attend the forum. The chamber’s Dave Kendall served as moderator, limiting how much time candidates had to answer questions from both he and members of the public.
Flin Flon’s civic election is this Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Huntley
Q: What are your top three priorities for Flin Flon?
Huntley said his priorities are fiscal transparency and responsibility, infrastructure renewal that includes a more planned approach, and establishing and/or re-establishing favourable relationships with all
stakeholders.
Q: Is Flin Flon, particularly the core area, safe?
Huntley pointed out that he lives
in the core area and feels it is
“fairly safe,” but perception may be a problem.
“I think there’s some perceptions given the appearance of certain individuals that live in our community that make people nervous, and in actual fact there’s probably no need to be nervous whatsoever,” he said.
But “anybody in any place” should be cautious and avoid certain situations, said Huntley, adding that Flin Flon “is one of the safer communities in Manitoba.”
Q: Would you support an external audit of city finances to trim budgetary fat?
Huntley said a first step would be to categorize city costs and
compare them to similar
communities in the province
“to see if you actually do have a problem” in an area.
With that information in hand, decisions could be made on whether to hire a consultant or expert to determine what is being done
differently in Flin Flon, he said.
“The idea of addressing the costs is certainly one that has to take place given the increases we’ve seen in the last little while, and to ensure that we are spending our money responsibly,” he added.
Q: Will you continue the city’s ban on new residential water meters?
Huntley said he is not totally
convinced water meters would be worthwhile, but he would like
to investigate them “because
actual usage would indicate
what you pay.”
If meters resulted in reduced water consumption, he said, “you may reduce the cost of processing so much water.”
He said he doesn’t think it
would be difficult to establish
a per-gallon price tag for water.
Q: What are your thoughts on the tipping fees at the landfill?
Huntley said he has “mixed feelings” on the fees. He said they are “totally appropriate” for
commercial users but he does
“get a little annoyed” when he has to pay $10 to take trash to the dump rather than leave it for
garbage collectors to pick up.
“But given the landfill situation that we do have, I think it’s something that you have to learn to live with in this day and age,” he added. “Do I totally agree with personal citizens’ tipping fees? No, but I support the direction that council and this administration has taken with regards to funding the landfill at this point in time.”
Fontaine
Q: What are your top three priorities for Flin Flon?
Fontaine said his priorities are to preserve current city services, secure involvement from
neighbouring communities
to ensure those services can be maintained through a group effort, and maintain a good environment for city workers.
Q: Is Flin Flon, particularly the core area, safe?
Fontaine said he believes Flin Flon is safe, though there are areas in any community where crimes
can occur.
He said violent crime in Flin Flon is “very low” and lauded the RCMP for effectively dealing with repeat offenders.
“I don’t see this as a crime-ridden, you know, ghetto,” he said. “I see this as a wonderful place. And whenever we see that we have trouble, our police work hard
on clearing it up. So it’s not
perfect, but I’m pretty happy with what we have.”
Q: Would you support an external audit of city finances to trim budgetary fat?
Fontaine said he’s “just not sure” whether this type of audit would
be useful.
“If you’re thinking that we’re going to bring somebody in who’s going to have the right to just come in and tell us we’re spending right or we’re spending wrong, I’m not sure how we’re going
to do that,” he said.
He pointed out that a human resources audit of the city
is already underway, and
audits of the city’s books are performed annually by external accountants, so nothing is hidden from the public.
Q: Will you continue the city’s ban on new residential water meters?
Fontaine said he thinks the ban will continue until the city has established its water delivery
system “in such a way that we can figure out how to charge properly for it.”
He said it’s not a question of how much water has been consumed by a residence, but how much it costs to deliver that water.
“So I’m not a big fan of water meters,” he added.
Q: What are your thoughts on the tipping fees at the landfill?
“I’m one of the ones who
implemented [the fees] and I say users [should] pay for these kinds of things,” said Fontaine. “It’s not an onerous fee.”
He pointed out that contractors incorporate the tipping fees into the price they charge customers.
“There’s no sense in somebody who never uses the dump paying the whole shot,” he added.
“If you use the dump on a regular basis, then pay the dough. I’m not apologizing for that. It’s a cost
of doing business. Dumps don’t run for free.”
