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Belledune - Belledune village council met on May 5 for the last time before the May 12 election, in a council chamber that was filled to capacity.

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Tim Jaques/Tribune

Belledune mayor Nick Duivenvoorden, right, presented Const. Francois Gagnon with a clock at the May village council meeting as a going-away gift.

Council first bid farewell to Const. Francois Gagnon of the Belledune RCMP. Gagnon is leaving the area. Mayor Nick Duivenvoorden joked that it could only be "downhill" after Belledune, but praised Gagnon for showing leadership and doing extra work during the search for missing village resident Allister Chalmers. (Chalmers was eventually found dead by a specialized search team from Maine.) Gagnon was presented with a clock on behalf of the village by Duivenvoorden.

Shawn Noel updated council on the activities of the village's Youth Committee. He explained that the committee wanted to draft a constitution for the group, and are planning a dance. The committee would also be asking the village for a flip chart and projector to use for planning. The committee is soon to decide whether it will meet once or twice a month.

Peggy Brimsacle made a proposal to council for using the former DNR building, recently acquired by the village, as a social development centre. (See separate story on page D2).

The public works report was received, and dealt mainly with ditches and culverts that needed attention. All culverts in village limits are inspected in the spring.

A tender for certain street upgrades was awarded to LCL 2006 Ltd for $271,166.10. There were four other tenders, one of which was rejected as not complying with the rules.

The contract for guardrail grass cutting was awarded to the lowest bidder, Danny Smearer, in the amount of $1,794. Smearer was also awarded a contract for street grading in the amount of $8,400.

The caretaker contract for the village Recreation Centre was renewed for another year, on the same terms.

Village bylaws were amended to reduce the term of deputy mayor. The deputy mayor had formerly been elected by fellow councillors to serve for the full four year term of council. Now, the deputy mayor will be elected each year.

The next meeting of council will be on Monday, May 26. The old council will hold its last meeting, after which the new council will be sworn in, and hold its first meeting.