The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A City of Flin Flon application to annex cottage country remains possible if not likely, Mayor George Fontaine said last week in some of his most candid comments on the subject to date. Speaking at a public forum, the mayor said an annexation attempt is still an option 'even if it's uncomfortable for people' and there is no guarantee it will succeed. 'The beginning discussions that I had with outside residents was, 'I don't want to have to do something that onerous (as annexation). There are ways that you could provide to our community that would make a difference to our community that wouldn't cost you (as much),'' Mayor Fontaine said. 'You try to find an amicable way to do it first, but quite frankly we haven't found it and...there have been (cottagers) who have approached me who have been in favour of every proposal we've made (to cottagers), but they do not want to fight with their neighbours so they zip it up and they leave it alone and let it sit the way it is. 'Meanwhile, of course, every day they zip it up and (let it) sit the way it is is another day they're not paying a tax. So as much as they say 'we have sympathy,' they're not going to stand in line to give us money, not one of them. See 'Level' on pg. Continued from pg. 'So I think we are on a trail that's going to go in that direction because we haven't had the level heads who are out there step up and speak to people and say, 'You know, we're headed for something we didn't really think we wanted to go to.' But guess what, it's going to come.' Mayor Fontaine made the statements at an Aug. 21 hearing, held at city hall by the Manitoba Municipal Board, to discuss the city's proposal to boost taxes on low-end Flin Flon homes. Like that effort, he described ongoing talks to glean revenue from cottagers who live near Flin Flon as crucial to the future of the city. For now the next step is not an annexation application but what Mayor Fontaine called 'negotiating with the provincial government' in relation to the cottage issue. He said city representatives recently met with officials from Manitoba Conservation and the Department of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, who 'will be doing some looking at our situation.' 'They will be discussing the situation with those residents,' said Mayor Fontaine. 'They may include (the city) or not include us in the discussions, but they've invited us if it works out, so we'll see.' Created problem Mayor Fontaine referred to the provincial government as 'the ones who have created this problem' by 'encouraging outside flow (of residents) and not giving us any kind of a mechanism to survive under.' 'And they know it and they've been told about it and they've been warned about it,' he said. 'But they're sitting there protecting their own positions, and we understand that. But, like I want to light a fire under their butts and that's what we'll have to do. And even if it's uncomfortable for people to see annexation, it will go there if that is (necessary).' But Mayor Fontaine acknowledged that any annexation attempt would be 'a very difficult job and we're not necessarily 100 per cent sure we can succeed.' Such doubt is understandable given that the province would have the final say on annexation. And approving annexation on the scale Mayor Fontaine has discussed could open a Manitoba-wide can of worms. To date, talks between the city and the area cottage association have failed to make much headway. On July 1, the city ended its years-old practice of sending firefighters to cabin blazes after the cottage association rejected the city's request for a $300 annual fee from every road-accessible cabin. Prior to that, cottagers collectively refused the city's request for an annual 'service fee' of $882 that would have seen year-round cabin residents directly fund a range of municipal services. However, it is now known that the cottage association reps with whom the city discussed these issues lacked the legal authority to approve or disapprove a funding deal. Mayor Fontaine said the association 'presented themselves as a community representative' but when talks on the fire fee failed 'told us that they actually didn't have power to make any agreement with us.' While the association lacks such legal authority on its own, Mark Kolt, the city's chief administrative officer, said it does carry great influence on the issue of cabin fees. Kolt, also speaking at last week's hearing, said provincial officials have compared the situation to cottagers wanting a road or increased plow service. 'Normally a request from the cottage association to the province is all that needs to be done,' he said. 'They then bill the residents for the amount. The sticking point here is that the cottage association has not asked the province, 'Add this extra bill (for the city) to our amount.' They don't have the legal power to enforce it by themselves, but as a consultant to the body they often tend to be the cue that the province follows.' All the talk of potential annexation had one member of the public asking why, if Flin Flon is in such dire financial straits, annexation is seen by the city as a last resort and not a priority. 'It's difficult to go to war with people who are your neighbours and coworkers,' replied Kolt, 'and I think the natural tendency is to try to resolve things peacefully if you can first.' In his remarks, Kolt addressed the financial and debt challenges Flin Flon faces, singling out the out-migration of residents to nearby areas as a factor. Kolt compared the situation to that of Detroit, the American city that recently filed for bankruptcy. 'All of their high-end taxpayers and earners move out into outlying areas beyond their tax base,' he said. 'Flin Flon isn't there yet, but we're headed in that direction. We've lost 1,000 people in the past 20 years to the cottage areas east of Flin Flon. Their average assessment, as best we can tell, is between $200,000 and $300,000 each. In Flin Flon, we've got maybe a dozen $300,000 properties. In Flin Flon, a $100,000 property is considered high-end.' Adding his thoughts, Mayor Fontaine said Flin Flon's population has not actually declined as much as the census suggests because 'we've got close to 1,000 living in a periphery.' 'They're our residents, we just don't get the taxation, we don't get a head count (for taxation purposes),' he said. 'We are completely baffled by the way (the province has) allowed this situation (to) almost destroy our community.' A provincial spokesperson was asked to comment on some of the mayor's statements but had not responded as of press time.
