Hawkesbury mayor doesn’t want to pay for work in other municipalities

Hawkesbury Mayor Jeanne Charlebois doesn't want her municipality to foot the bill for work being undertaken in other municipalities.

Charlebois wasn't shy about voicing her opinion on the United Counties of Prescott-Russell's (UCPR) decision to oversee the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of County Road 7 and Router 700 in The Nation.

Public works director Marc Clermont explained that The Nation Mayor Denis Pommainville wanted to know who would be responsible for carrying out the work on the roundabout project.

"The Nation said they would do the construction, but wanted the UCPR to oversee and manage the project with our expertise," Clermont said. "The majority of the mayors supported this request and the counties indicated it would only start work once certain aspects of the project [such as sewer and water] were completed."

However, Charlebois was not pleased with the decision and said the counties have no business overseeing the project.

"Who is going to benefit from this?" the mayor asked. "Casselman, The Nation, both? If this is a project that is being carried out by the county, I have no problem paying [Hawkesbury's] part. But, I am not interested in paying for a project being carried out by a municipality. I don't think that's right."

Furthermore, she stated, The Nation should be paying Clermont and counties staff for time spent supervising and managing the project.

"I do not want this to become common practice," Charlebois remarked. "We have to draw the line somewhere and right now, I think we are stepping over the line."