Mulmur looking at 2.2% levy increase
Mulmur Council continues to work towards a 2.2 per cent increase in its 2013 municipal tax levy, but is currently dealing with a $246,636 shortfall before it can reach that goal.
Council members tossed around several ideas for cuts at their Wednesday meeting, including a zero percent salary increase for all Township employees, the elimination of two summer student positions (one in administration and one in public works), the postponement of scheduled line painting on Township roads this year, and a 50-per-cent reduction in the amount of brushing done by its road crews. The end result, should all of Wednesday’s ideas be implemented, would be a $142,336 shortfall should the goal remain a 2.2 per cent increase.
The Township will hold two public meetings regarding the 2013 draft budget, on February 5 and February 20, and invites ratepayers to submit ideas and suggestions focusing on generating additional revenues or reducing current or future expenditures for the municipality to the Township’s treasury department at hbunker@mulmurtownship.ca.
New Committee Appointments
Council reshuffled its committee appointments on Wednesday, reducing the number of Councillors who sit on several committees as a cost-saving measure in the process. The new appointments are as follows: Councillor Earl Hawkins will sit on the Committee of Adjustment, Mayor Paul Mills will sit on the Planning Advisory Committee, Councillors Heather Hayes and Lynn Hilchey will sit on the North Dufferin Recreation Committee, Hayes will sit on the Policing Committee, Mills will sit on the Provincial Offences Committee, Hilchey will sit on the Roads Advisory Committee, Hayes and Hilchey will sit on the Shelburne & District Fire Board, Mills and Hawkins will sit on the Rosemont District Fire Board, Hayes and Mills will sit on the Mulmur Melancthon Fire Board, Hawkins will sit on the Mansfield Recreation Committee, Hilchey will sit on the Mulmur Heritage Committee, and she’s also sit on the Shelburne Library Board. Deputy Mayor Rhonda Campbell Moon, who was absent from Wednesday’s meeting, continues to be restricted from sitting on any committees of Council, a result of a resolution passed in 2011 after her controversial conduct at Council and on the Mulmur Melancthon Fire Board.
North Dufferin Recreation User Study
Council received an in-depth report from Treasurer Harry Bunker regarding the nature of the North Dufferin Recreation Centre’s users, in light of a financial situation that Mayor Mills characterized as a “crisis mode.”
The arena has operated with a deficit in five of the last six years, with 2008, 2010 and 2012 all seeing shortfalls of over $30,000.
Melancthon Township does contribute to the NDRC’s budget, but for the past four years it has given $7,500 compared to Mulmur Township’s $18,500. Since 1997, Melancthon has contributed $114,820 to the arena compared to $239,948 from Mulmur.
When it comes to who is using the facility, however, those ratios flip upside down. In 2012/13, of the 162 kids signed up for the Honeywood Minor Hockey Association, 43 were from Mulmur, 73 were from Melancthon and 46 were from somewhere else. Similarly, the Honeywood Figure Skating Club has 35 members this year; six of them are from Mulmur, 12 from Melancthon and 17 from elsewhere.
The report also noted that while Melancthon contributes only $7,500 a year to the North Dufferin Recreation Centre, it pays substantially more to two other similar organizations: in 2012, the Shelburne arena received $24,750 from Melancthon, and the Dundalk arena received $14,000. And both of those arenas charge extra for ice time for non-residents, while the Honeywood arena doesn’t.
The report listed several options for Mulmur Council, including raising rates for Minor Hockey and Figure Skating, charging a 20 per cent non-resident fee, having Mulmur and Melancthon contribute to operating costs on the basis of percentage of users, and having the municipalities contribute on a 50/50 basis.
No decision was made on the report, but Mayor Mills and Councillor Hayes said they would take the report to Melancthon’s next Council meeting to make them aware of their concerns.
Historical Register To Be Compiled
The Mulmur Heritage Committee continues to work toward compiling a Historical Register of heritage buildings in the Township. On Wednesday, Council agreed to the committee’s recommendation on a way forward.
The committee will spend the next few months compiling a list of potential properties, and once the list is compiled, property owners will be invited to an open house to meet with the committee prior to being added to the Register. Following that event, the committee will submit a final list to Council for approval.
Houses on the list will not have offical Historic Designation; rather, they will be known to Council so that actions may be taken should a demolition permit be applied for. Historic Designations may be granted should the property owners want them.
Development Charge Increase
Council voted to increase Mulmur Township’s development charges Wednesday by a still-to-be-determined amount that should be in the range of three to four per cent.
Currently, new residential development is subject to a development charge of $8,001.32 in Mansfield and $7,543.13 in the rest of the Township. Non-residential developers must pay $2.14 per square foot in Primrose and $1.02 elsewhere in Mulmur.
Those rates were set in 2009, and the Township’s Development Charges bylaw will next be reviewed in 2014. In the meantime, municipalities are permitted to revise their charges to keep up with increases in the construction price index. The amount of that increase will be ascertained by the Township’s DC consultant.
Planner Hired for Arbour Farms File
With Arbour Farms submitting a new Aggregate Resources Act application for a gravel pit on its Airport Road property, Mulmur put out a request for proposals for the hiring of a planning firm to deal with the file. On Wednesday, Council met in camera to decide on a firm.
Wednesday’s meeting also saw some discussion about the process going forward with regard to the Arbour Farms application. The developer has announced that it will hold its mandated public meeting to deal with the ARA application on Thursday, February 5 from 4 to 7 pm. During the question period at the start of the meeting, CORE representative Cheryl Russel expressed concern about weekend residents’ ability to attend the meeting. Mayor Mills reported that he had mentioned the same thing to Arbour Farms representatives, but was told that the Thursday meeting would suffice. Mills did assure Russel that when the time came for a public meeting on a rezoning application, it would be held on a weekend.
