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The Glengarry News Volume 119, No 16, April 21, 2010 Alexandria, Ontario$1.10 (Inc. GST)

IN TH I S WE E K S NE W S

THIS WEEKS TARTAN: EG LINTON

RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: The Glengarry News, 3 Main St. S., Box 10, Alexandria , K0C 1A0 PM 40005339 R 7495

IN TH I S WE E K S NE W S

The Glengarry NewsAdored bar owner killed in blaze

BYSCOTTCARMICHAEL NewsStaff

A popular Alexandria businesswomandied in a fire early Sunday morning thatdestroyed a well-known local pub and twoapartments located above, while sendingthree other adults to hospital.

Although police have yet to release thename of the victim or an official cause ofdeath, several people with whomThe Newsspoke with Monday confirmed thatSue Delorme, 42, owner of Sue Magoos

pub who was a tenant of one of theapartment units and lived there with her boyfriend Tommy MacDonald perishedin the blaze.

Ms. Delorme leaves behind an adult son,Matthew McDonald, and a teenageddaughter, Nadia Seguin.

Mr. MacDonald, who jumped from a sec-ond-floor window to escape the flamesand smoke, was one of the three people

injured during the fire, which started atthe building on 25 Main St. N sometime between 3 and 3:30 a.m.

He was airlifted to hospital in Ottawaand as of Tuesday morning was in a comaand suffering from smoke inhalation, butis in stable condition.

Ms. Delormes brother, James CocoDelorme, who was staying overnight at hissisters apartment Saturday night, and thetenant of the other apartment, LucyLedoux who escaped from the fire with

her cat were also taken to hospital withundisclosed injuries.The loss of a well-known and well-liked

citizen such as Ms. Delorme would have aprofound impact on any small, tightly-knitcommunity, and judging by the commentsof those who knew and loved SueMagoo, her death has certainly created avoid that will be difficult to fill.

Reina Menard, who owns Alexandria

Florist, located next door to the site of thefire, and who also lives above her shop,said shell miss her neighbour and friend.

She was a super nice person who wasalways laughing, recalled Ms. Menard.

Ive known her for about 15 years. Iused to go see her at the bar, and shedcome and buy flowers from me all thetime.

She used to babysit my grandchildren...Icant believe it.

Ms. Menard toldThe Newsthat she and

her boyfriend were awoken from bed at 3a.m. on Sunday by what they initiallythought was noise coming from somenoisy patrons leaving the bar.

We got up and got dressed, and Ilooked out the front window, and when Idid, I could see cars driving away and peo-ple running, and I could see a guy lying onthe sidewalk in his underwear, and peopletrying to drag him away.

The man was Mr. MacDonald, whodlanded on the sidewalk after leaping fromthe window of Ms. Delormes daughters bedroom.

At first I thought (because she was notyet fully awake) that hed been hit by atruck, but then I thought, Why is he in hisunderwear?

Then when I looked next door, atFrenchies (Sue Magoos former name), Isaw the flames in the bar...I told my

boyfriend that the bar was on fire.Ms. Menard said she then got realscared, for my own building.

She repeatedly tried to call 911, but wasso shaken up that she was unable to do sothe first few times.

When she finally was successful, herphone line went dead.

Adding to her fear was the speed atwhich the flames consumed the neigh- bouring bar.

It went up so fast, she said.It didnt take very long. I went to the

back of my store, and I could see the base-ment (of Sue Magoos). Everything was in

flames.Like most of the town, Ms. Menard was

still trying to come to grips with what hap-pened on Sunday and was visibly dis-traught when she spoke toThe NewsonMonday morning.

It just keeps going through my mind. Ikeep seeing the fire, she explained.

I didnt see Sue, but Anik (Lecompte,whod got off work at Maggies just beforethe fire started, and was on her way homewhen it broke out) said she saw her.

I guess Sue was yelling at her (out thewindow) to call 911.

I remember going outside and Anik telling me that Sue was up there, in herapartment, she added.

We knew she (Sue) was up there, and itwas burning...and there was nothing wecould do.

Ms. Menard also said that after jumpingto safety, Mr. MacDonald told Ms.Lecompte that the fire had started in agarbage can located in the hallway outsidethe apartments.

Ms. Delormes gregarious personalityand warm nature left a lasting impressionon everyone she met, recalled her former

boss Paul Burke, the owner of thAlexandria Tim Hortons where MsDelorme worked for eight years befortaking over the former Frenchies Place 2008.

She was very popular. Everybody loveher, said Mr. Burke.

She was a ray of sunshine for all whoknew her in the community, so were alreally shocked and saddened by thetragedy that struck her.

I think well always cherish her infectious smile...and I know that shell be sad

FROM A DISTANCE:Firefighters battle from an adjacent rooftop the fire early Sunday morning that destroyed a buildinglocated in downtown Alexandria. Crews from Alexandria and Maxville totalling 30 members battled the fire, which destroythe building located at 25 Main Street. PHOTO COURTESY REINA MENARD

LIVING THE DREAM: After years of providing Glengarrians with exceptional andfriendly service while employed at the Alexandria Tim Hortons, longtime local res-ident Sue Delorme bought what was then known as Frenchies in 2008, fulfillingan aspiration to own her own business. She renamed it Sue Magoos. Her outgo-ing and engaging personality was known to many residents. Ms. Delorme per-ished in the early-Sunday morning fire that destroyed the Main Street building where her business and home were located. PHOTO COURTESY FACEBOOK SEEFIREON PAGE A3

BYPETEBOCK NewsStaff

An investigator found no intentional wrongdoingregarding how North Glengarry officials handledtheir closed door meetings, but he uncovered twoprocedural problems.

The first issue raises transparency concerns,according to Stephen Fournier, who conducted aninvestigation of 18 closed door meetings in thetownship between Nov. 1, 2008 and Oct. 15, 2009,following a complaint byThe Glengarry News.

In eight instances the reasons cited in the resolu-tion to move in camera did not correctly match thematters under consideration, Mr. Fournier stated inhis report, or (were) missing altogether...

This was the case despite the fact the matters dis-cussed all qualified for consideration behind closeddoors underThe Municipal Act (the Act).

The investigator called the problem an administra-tive oversight in his March 15 report, which wasincluded in the April 12 council package.

The Newsquestioned Mr. Fournier as to whetherhe was concerned about the frequency of the proce-dural problem in a follow-up interview last week.

Hence the recommendation, was the investiga-tors direct response.

Four of six recommendations listed in the conclu-sion of his 10-page report addressed this first proce-dural problem.

They were included to improve transparencyand consistency with the requirements ofthe Act...

The four recommendations are: (Add) a requirement for the chair of the meeting

to rise and give a report on the closed session imme-diately upon returning to open session;

That the format of the chairs report on the pro-

ceedings of the closed session be based on theReport of the Proceedings of the in camera ses-sion...;

That the report on the proceedings of the incamera session be incorporated into the writtenrecord of the open session; and

If a matter is added to the in camera agendaduring the closed session, the council, local board,or committee shall return to the open meeting andamend the original motion to move in camera before the matter is considered in the closed session.

The whole point is you are entitled to go in cam-era, Mr. Fournier toldThe News, but you have anobligation to accurately and consistently identifywhy you did it.

The Newslaunched its complaint with the closedmeeting investigator last October, after staff becameconcerned that North Glengarry officials failed to

release details of a $760,000 class action settlement ina public forum.

The money was simply put into the R.A.R.E.plants reserves.

We asked the investigator to determine fourthings:

Whether the (settlement) information is public,and if it isnt why?

If it is public information, why wasnt it releasedat an appropriate time by the township?

Is there other information contained in the in-camera minutes, over the past year, that shouldhave been released to the public or that should havesimply been discussed in a public forum from theoutset?

Are North Glengarry officials handling councilsin-camera sessions appropriately?

The second procedural problem surfaced when

the investigator looked into the $760,000 settlemThe issue is connected to votes taken during

camera sessions.He showed that North Glengarry handled the v

majority of its votes 22 of 23 without any dculties.

It was different in the settlement.Mr. Fournier determined it was appropriate f

council to initially discuss the legal matter behclosed doors, which it did on three occasio between November 2008 and January 2009.

However, he showed, the process then brokdown.

There is nothing in the closed or open meetinrecords between February and October 2009 dmenting councils direction to accept the settlem

This despite a February 2009 decision to incor

Investigation reveals procedural problems with NG going in-camera...

...but suggestions as to how to alleviate them in the future dismissed by offiBYPETEBOCK NewsStaff

Constructive criticism from a closed meeting investigator wasignored at a recent North Glengarry council meeting.

Investigator Stephen Fournier identified two flaws in how thetownship conducts its closed door council sessions in a March 15report (See related story above).

Yet neither clerk/administrator Terry Hart, nor Mayor GrantCrack acknowledged either of the issues when they spoke aboutthe report at the April 12 council meeting.

Instead, Mr. Hart read sections from the report: concentratingon those that showed township officials in a positive light, andshied away from those that demonstrated where improvementscould be made.

The clerk skipped over the investigators six recommendations

during his presentation.(Mr. Hart toldThe Newsin a follow-up interview that senior staffwill review the report before deciding whether to present theinvestigators recommendations to council.)

Mayor Cracks focus was three-fold: he stated that the investiga-tor absolved township officials of wrongdoing; he suggested thepurpose of one of Mr. Fourniers recommendations was to puttime restrictions on further investigations; and he said therequested investigation was excessive in scope.

The Newsasked for an investigation into North Glengarrys in-camera practices after township officials failed to publicly releaseinformation about a $760,000 class action lawsuit settlement.

As it clearly stated on page eight of his report, Mayor Crack said at the April 12 meeting, the matter that has been put intoquestion was an administrative oversight.

And once it became knowledge of this council, we rectifiedthat, so it was unintentional.Rather than examine the investigators recommendation on how

to avoid these problems in the future, the mayor simply congrat-ulated council on continuing to perform according to its legislativerequirements.

A recommendation the mayor wanted to look at was Mr.Fourniers suggestion to restrict the length of some investigations.

Ottawa has a 30-day limit to investigate a specific matter underconsideration at a specific meeting.

The mayor, and Mr. Hart, interpreted this as a way to limit thescope of investigations to one meeting.

I think he wants to limit it to one in our procedural bylaw, Mr.Hart told the mayor, so that somebody couldnt come in and say,Look, I would like to investigate the next three years.

Yet in his report, the investigator stated the 30-day rule isto ensure an investigation is carried out and completed in ly manner.

The investigator toldThe Newsthe $760,000 settlement caserequired a broader scope because the issue spanned nearly rather than one meeting.

He also attributed some of the lapsed time to a 30-day from the township in getting him documents.

The inspector toldThe Newshe didnt dive into his report untilmid-January and then took a several week break in Februa(The Newsrequested the investigation in mid-October and was inly told by the investigator it would probably take two wee

Mr. Fournier stated he will probably submit his bill for thetigation within the month, and that it would be only for the

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