LETTER

Infrastructure needs in the municipality of Pontiac

 

In January and March 2015, Pontiac council passed resolutions to have a study of community buildings and infrastructure needs, costing a maximum of $12,000, and (in March) to “define exactly where the needs are,” (“définir dans quel secteur les besoins se situent ”), “for the whole of its territory,” (“afin de desservir l’ensemble du territoire,”).

What the taxpayers of the municipality got was the “Cousineau report”, dated July 2015, well summed up by its title, “Analysis of the needs for construction of a new community centre in the Quyon sector, municipality of Pontiac.” ("Analyse des besoins pour la construction d’un nouveau centre communautaire dans la municipalité de Pontiac, secteur Quyon”). This describes what we all know is wrong with the former army hut at the end of rue Ferry, also know as the Lions Club Hall or Beach Barn, and lists some of the organizations that could use a new, two-storey, 11,000 sq. foot building on the waterfront in Quyon (including the Club d’âge d’or de Luskville, once a month).

Perhaps because the Quebec municipalities infrastructure program (PIQM) just turned down the proposal for a $2.5 million building for a second time, despite this study, the municipality put the Cousineau report up on its website on 18 March this year.

Your report in the 23 March 2016 Pontiac Journal quotes Mayor Roger Larose as saying, “We have a precise idea of what the needs of the community are, thanks to the Cousineau study.” Unfortunately we don’t, only the needs of Quyon residents (13% of the municipality) and perhaps those who live in the west end of the municipality, the former Onslow.

Quyon does not need and cannot afford a community centre of this scale and I doubt that the rest of the municipality would want to pay for it. Quyon already has  a second community centre, the Bert Kennedy Centre at 885 rue de Clarendon, with a complete kitchen and large meeting room. Gavan's Hotel may already be suffering from the presence of two community centres that can be rented at low cost and where alcohol can be sold at a rebate, not good for local business and employment.

Meanwhile, it would be interesting to know what the needs of the whole municipality are - perhaps new toilets are needed in the community centre in Luskville; a larger community centre with kitchen, and a library in Breckenridge, the sector with twice the population of Quyon; more parks; one or more beach or boat launch access points; an arena so that hockey kids don’t need to be driven to Shawville; a swimming pool; a medical centre; an English primary school in the east end; a high school?

Mo Laidlaw
Breckenridge, Pontiac