Mulmur faces development charge woes
With $250,000 sitting in the recreation portion of the Development Charges accounts, Mulmur discussed their current quandary at Wednesday’s meeting. To spend the money means there will be little in the way of long-term savings toward major capital projects such as the arena, to save the money means the Township will be unable to gather as much for the recreation portion of DCs when the bylaw comes up for review in 2014
“If we don’t spend it we won’t be able to charge it at the current level,” said Mulmur Planner Ron Mills of the 16.15 per cent of DCs presently allotted to recreation. This money is intended to cover costs incurred as a result of new development and for growth-related capital projects and improvements but in Mulmur, where growth is slow and existing infrastructure has capacity but may need to be replaced or improved at a significant cost in the near future, the system is difficult.
“Development Charges work better for communities with significant new growth. A new arena can cost millions of dollars. We are dealing with nickels and dimes,” said Mills.
Councillor Earl Hawkins further expanded on the problem, “The last of any major residential development has already happened in Mansfield – we have that money now because of that and it could be a while before it is replenished.”
Council discussed how they would proceed with the spending decisions with Hawkins sharing some desires he has heard from constituents including boards and perhaps even a roof to create an outdoor ice rink on the existing play-pad in Mansfield and maybe even lights for the ball diamond. Councillors Heather Hayes and Lynn Hilchey reminded Council that consultation has taken place on the topic of recreation and the data from these should be a primary consideration. Also major consideration according to Public Works Director John Willmetts is the ongoing cost of maintenance of any project. These costs would have to be paid for through general taxation or additional user fees.
Under the current plan, ten per cent of rec DCs are slated for the development of parkland, seven per cent for facilities such as the Norduff Room, 81 for the arena and only one per cent for vehicles such as a new Zamboni, which runs upwards of $80,000. Though this is what is on paper, Mills says there is some flexibility to re-allot the funds as long as they stay under the recreation umbrella.
Mayor Paul Mills closed what he called “the beginning of a good discussion” with direction to Council and staff to continue thinking and pick up the conversation later.
