Municipal Services

Animals

Animal protection and control

See French version. Translation will follow.

Public works

Street lights

If you notice that a street light isn’t working, please contact Town Hall.

To report a problem

To report a problem related to infrastructure, a road, or equipment at any time, please contact Town Hall at 819-560-8585. Outside of office hours, someone will answer your call and your message will be forwarded to the appropriate department.

Snow removal

Parking

From November 1 to April 15, inclusive, it is prohibited to park or stop your vehicle on all public roads within the municipal limits between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Permits and urban planning

Temporary garages

Seasonal car ports are permitted between October 1 and April 30 of the following year. The shelter, including its structure, must be taken down outside of this period. The cover must be made of canvas or plastic and be mounted on a lightweight metal frame.

Commercial signage

In accordance with the Town of Cookshire-Eaton’s by-law regarding commercial signage, you must obtain a permit from a building inspector before installing a sign.

Permits and inspections

A permit issued by the building and environment inspector is required for any building construction, renovations, demolition, or additions. A permit is also required to install a pool or fence.

To obtain a permit, make an appointment with the building and environment inspector by calling 819-560-8585.

Waste materials

The collection of residual materials on the territory of the Town of Cookshire-Eaton is done internally. In this section, you will find the main information relating to the different types of collection.

Comments and complaints regarding the collection of residual materials can be sent to Anick Fredette by email, anick.fredette@hsfqc.ca or by phone, at 819 560-8585 ext. 2321.

Household garbage and recycling collection

A few rules to facilitate collections:

  • Use the right bins;
  • Place the bin with the opening towards the street;
  • The weight of the bin must be less than 90 kg (200 lb);
  • Bags or garbage placed next to the bin will not be picked up;
  • Leave a free space of approximately 60 cm (2 feet) around the bin;
  • The lid must be closed;
  •  No prohibited materials otherwise the bin will not be picked up.

Calendar 2022 – Garbage, recycling and compost

Consult the collection routes

Where does it go?

Roll-out bins

To obtain a roll-out bin, contact the Town at 819-560-8585 or by e-mail at anick.fredette@hsfqc.ca

Additional bins

To ensure fairness, the Town of Cookshire-Eaton is preparing to overhaul how it bills for its domestic waste collection service. As of April 1st, 2023, charges for using the service will be based on the user-pay system, in which the user-client pays for the internal and external costs of the resources, facilities, and services they use. The basic fee to be charged to your tax account will cover collection of only one (1) household waste bin. You will be charged a fee for any additional bin or bins.

Fees of $105.00 per additional bin will be imposed according to the tax regulations.

To register for additional bins: Request – Additional bins

Household hazardous waste

The Town of Cookshire-Eaton offers the collection of certain hazardous household waste on its territory.

It is also possible to dispose of hazardous household waste at the Ecocentre of the MRC du Haut-Saint-François, visit its Web site.

Special collections

Christmas trees
The municipality proceeds to the collection of Christmas trees only in the urban perimeters the second full week of January.

Dead leaves
The collection of dead leaves will take place the first full week of November only in urban perimeters. Please note that only paper bags will be authorized during the collection. No plastic bags will be picked up.

Big garbage collection
Big garbage collection will be by registration only. You will need to register from the link that will be shared on our website or call us at 819 560-8585, extension 2321.

Registration form – click here!

Be aware that the collection of large scrap should be considered a last resort.

Materials refused:
• Electronics (eg TV)
• Hazardous household waste (paint, solvent, oil, chemical product, propane tank, etc.)
• Asphalt clapboard
• Household waste
• Motor vehicle parts
• Agricultural plastic

 

Glass collection
Let’s stop GLASS from going to sorting centres!

Save PAPER-CARDBOARD-PLASTIC from contamination by particles and glass dust! Let’s get the GLASS out of the jumbled up bin to ensure its “true” 100% recycling!

Drop your GLASS in the container located at Salle Guy-Veilleux at 75, rue Castonguay, Cookshire-Eaton.

 

Clothing and textiles
In order to always reduce the waste sent to landfills, it is important to adopt a more responsible behavior based on the 3R-V approach: reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.
This is why we invite you to deposit your clothes or textiles in the places provided for this purpose:

Cookshire family counter
170, Principale Est (basement of St-Camille church)

Recupex bell
62 Jordan Hill Road (Johnville Community Hall parking lot)

4 Randboro Road (Sawyerville Church parking lot)

 

Mobile ecocentre

In collaboration with the MRC du Haut-Saint-François, we have chosen to offer mobile ecocentres twice a year. This service will replace the usual large garbage collections, because this process allows the materials to be valorized at their maximum value instead of being buried at the waste site as is when do the regular big garbage collection.

 

Schedule :
May 14th and 21st, 2022
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Municipal Garage, 427 Smith Road
Materials accepted and refused: to come

 

Collection of agricultural plastique

Did you know that in Quebec, agricultural producers use nearly 11,000 tonnes of single-use plastic per year. About 6,500 tonnes of this plastic is for wrapping and/or storing silage. Several regions of Quebec are struggling with this plastic and do not have an eco-responsible solution for this material.

This is why the Town of Cookshire-Eaton has implemented the collection of agricultural plastics on its territory since the summer of 2021. Our objective is to avoid the burial of these plastics.

All farms in the Town of Cookshire-Eaton will be required to participate in the collection of agricultural plastics. This curbside collection service is offered monthly.

Here is some information about the collection:
Agricultural plastics collection calendar 2022
Agricultural plastic collection memo

 

Water and sanitation

Annual assessment on the quality of drinking water

In accordance with the regulation on the quality of drinking water, municipalities must now make available a report on the quality of drinking water taken from January 1st to December 31st of the previous year.

Persons interested in consulting the report of 2015 for Cookshire, Sawyerville or Johnville can make a request by e-mail to:  cookshire-eaton@hsfqc.ca

Lawn watering

The watering of lawns, hedges, trees, shrubs, and other vegetation using removable sprinklers or soaker hoses is permitted only between 8 and 11 p.m. on the following days: 

  1.  Occupants of an even-numbered residence may water when the date is an even number.
  2.  Occupants of an odd-numbered residence may water when the date is an odd number.

The use of automatic irrigation systems is permitted Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 3 to 6 a.m.

The use of drinking water for watering, washing a vehicle, or filling pools is prohibited when there is a water ban in place. If water use conditions are put in place, users must comply with them.

Backwater valves

To prevent sewage backflow, all property owners served by the municipal sewer system must install and maintain pressure-relief valves (backwater valves) at their own expense.

In the event that a property owner refuse to install and maintain in good condition a pressure relief valve (backwater valve) in compliance with municipal by-laws, the municipality is not responsible for damage to the building or its contents caused by sewage backflow.

Connecting to public services (water and sewer)

Residents are responsible for their sanitary and storm sewer lines from the house to the sewer main connection. The property owner is responsible for the cost of any maintenance to the sewer line that serves his or her property.

Property owners are responsible for the water supply conduit from their house to the property line. There is a curb stop valve located near the property line and the property owner may be held liable for damage to this shut-off valve. Closing this valve will determine who is responsible for repairing the damage. If closing the valve stops the flow of water (or the leaking sound), it may be concluded that the leak occurred on the property owner’s side of the valve and therefore he or she will be responsible for the cost of repairing the damage. Property owners may hire the contractor of their choice provided they are assisted in the repairs by a skilled plumber.

Filling pools

The Town of Cookshire-Eaton does not offer pool-filling services.

Emptying of septic tanks

The Town of Cookshire-Eaton manages the emptying of septic tanks.

All property owners who require this service will receive a written notice by mail advising them of the week their septic tank will be emptied. Septic tanks are emptied once every two years.

Water Withdrawal and Protection Regulation  

On March 2, 2015 a part of the new provincial regulation (Chapter III, IV) on water sampling came into effect, and its protection also in effect since September 14, 2014 therefore it is under municipal application. 

Article 14 applicable to existing wells obliges the property owner to make them accessible, so if your wells are currently buried you must extend the access to 30 cm above ground level and make the necessary adjustments according to the requirements of Article 18 cited below.  If the well is hidden by vegetation a visual landmark is obligatory. 

14.  (cf. 2015-03-02) Every water withdrawal facility must remain accessible for inspection, maintenance, disinfection or equipment repair purposes, and for plugging or dismantling if required. 

18.  (cf. 2015-03-02) Unless a groundwater withdrawal facility is plugged in accordance with section 20, the facility must, at all times, be operated in compliance with the following conditions: 

  (1)    the facility must be equipped with a secure cover that is resistant to the weather, contaminants and vermin, and, if the facility is exposed to immersion risks, the infiltration of water; 

  (2)    the soil around the facility must be graded so as to prevent water pooling and water runoff towards the facility for a distance of 1 m around the facility; 

  (3)    the facility must be visibly locatable; 

  (4)    if a hydrofracturing activity is carried out at the facility, water that meets the quality standards for drinking water prescribed by the Regulation respecting the quality of drinking water (chapter Q-2, r. 40) must be used. 

This section also applies to an observation well. 

90.  Every person who 

  (1)    fails to take a sample or measurement in accordance with this Regulation, 

  (2)    fails to conduct an analysis, test, monitoring or check in accordance with this Regulation, 

  (3)    fails to make a water withdrawal facility accessible in accordance with section 14, 

commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $2,500 to $250,000 in the case of a natural person or $7,500 to $1,500,00 in other cases.

Taxes

Municipal evaluations

The MRC of the Haut-Saint-François performs all property evaluations in the Town of Cookshire-Eaton.

Municipal taxes

If the amount due is greater than three hundred dollars ($300), municipal taxes are payable in five equal installments. The 2014 payment dates are: March 27, May 29, July 24, September 25, and November 27.

Taxes may be paid at your financial institution or directly, by cheque or cash, at Town Hall during regular office hours.

Transportation

The following types of transportation service Cookshire-Eaton: Haut-Saint-François shared passenger transportation, shared passenger taxi services with reservations, para-transit (adapted transport services), and accompaniment services.

For more details

By-laws

Firearms

The use of a firearm, airgun, bow and arrow, or crossbow within 150 metres of any house, building, structure, or multi-purpose trails (bike path, recreational trail) is prohibited. Within town limits, this distance is increased to a minimum of 500 meters for firearms.

Alcohol and drugs

No person is permitted to be in possession of or under the influence of alcohol or drugs in a public place.

Rural mailboxes

Mailboxes must meet the following standards:

  • Be installed in accordance with the standards set out by Canada Post
  • Not impede the right-of-way of a municipal road 

Property owners with mailboxes located at the side of a provincial road must consult the Ministry of Transport.

Notwithstanding the clauses above, the Town of Cookshire-Eaton does not require property owners to relocate mailboxes previously installed in the right-of-way. However, the Town cannot be held responsible for any damage caused by snowplows.

Disturbing the peace

Making, causing, or in any way inciting the making of noise that is likely to disturb the peace, tranquility, comfort, rest, and well-being of any resident or passerby, or that in any way prevents the peaceful use of property in the neighbourhood constitutes a nuisance and is prohibited.

Peddling or itinerant sales

As of September 2016, the Town of Cookshire-Eaton has adopted regulation 223-2016. This regulation prohibits solicitation, of a for-profit nature, on its territory.

The regulation doesn’t apply to the following:

  • The Sûreté du Québec
  • Fundraising for a school, as long as the person who solicits the funds resides within the municipality;
  • Fundraising for an association, a non-profit organisation or other, established within the municipality;
  • Any political solicitation, in the event of a municipal, provincial, federal or school board election, or referendum, that was pre-established prior to the solicitation;
  • Any solicitation to sell publications, brochures and books of religious or moral nature;
  • Any solicitation made by children on Halloween day.

To obtain the required permit the applicant must provide a document, signed by the organisation, demonstrating that the conditions outlined in the previous paragraph are respected. The permit is free of charge.   

Public spaces and parks

No person is permitted to be in a park or on school property in contravention of the times posted. The municipal council may issue a special event permit by passing a resolution to this effect. In such a case, the conditions pertaining to the event will be indicated on the permit.

Loitering in a public or private place

Loitering in a public or private place without written authorization from the property owners constitutes a nuisance and is prohibited.

Property maintenance

It constitutes a nuisance and it is prohibited for the owner of any property, whether or not there are any structures on it, to fail to maintain it in a satisfactory state of cleanliness and in such a manner as to pose a danger to the health and safety of those who live or who find themselves on it.

Noisy machines

Between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. it constitutes a nuisance and it is prohibited to operate a lawn mower, chain saw, snow blower, or other similar equipment.

Construction work

It constitutes a nuisance and it is prohibited, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., to make or allow others to make noise caused by constructing, rebuilding, modifying, or repairing a building or structure, an automobile, or any other machine, or to make or allow others to make noise as a result of excavation work using any machine likely to make noise anywhere in the municipality within one hundred and fifty metres (150 m) of a dwelling.

This clause does not apply to emergency work that must be done to ensure the safety of the premises or the people located therein.

Non-operational vehicles

Leaving, storing, or abandoning on any property, one or more vehicles more than seven (7) years old, not plated for the current year, and not in a state to be driven constitutes a nuisance and is prohibited.

Garage sales

It is prohibited for any person to hold or enable others to hold a garage sale without having previously requested and obtained a garage sale permit from the municipality.

Heavy machinery

Operating or allowing others to operate heavy machinery between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. constitutes a nuisance and is prohibited.