Council responds to funding requests during final budget debate
Clearview council responded to a few last minute funding requests during its second and final budget workshop Nov. 28.
The changes pushed the municipal tax increase up to 4.18 per cent, from 3.42 per cent presented at a public meeting on Nov. 14.
Council approved the $39,326,000 budget for 2017, which includes $26,230,000 in operating expenses and $13,096,000 in capital spending.
As part of the discussion, council considered a request from Collingwood General and Marine (G&M) Hospital for a financial commitment toward the construction of a new hospital.
G&M Foundation executive director Jory Pritchard Kerr was before council Nov. 14 asking members to consider pledging $5 million over 10-15 years. The hospital is hoping to build a 335,951 square foot hospital, two-and-a-half times the size of the current facility, on Poplar Sideroad. The total project cost is estimated at $328 million, with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care covering $253 million of that, leaving almost $75 million to be raised by the foundation. G&M is in the process of asking for donations from other municipalities whose residents use the hospital – Collingwood, Wasaga Beach and The Blue Mountains.
After some discussion, council worked out a plan that would result in a $3.6 million donation toward the new build by 2031.
Clearview will set $25,000 aside in 2017, with donations building by increments of $50,000 each year up to a maximum of $300,000 by 2023. The plan is to continue saving $300,000 until 2031, when the fundraising goal is reached. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2020 and would take several years.
Mayor Christopher Vanderkruys made a motion to add $50,000 for gravel to improve rural road maintenance. He said the expenditure is in response to comments and complaints made at the mayor’s town hall meetings. People have been asking for better maintenance of the township’s gravel roads. The extra money will be used at the discretion of staff to buy materials and increase grading.
Council also agreed to include $17,000 for pavers to complete the streetscaping of Caroline Street West. The street was redesigned after a new watermain was installed this fall. General manager of transportation and drainage Gerry LeMay reported the project came in $68,000 under budget, so there are enough funds to replace the asphalt in the boulevards with pavers.
The Creemore BIA made the request to extend the brick throughout the commercial area so that the streetscape would look consistent with what is used on the sidewalks on Mill Street. The money will come from reserves.
Council also added $3,000 for seed money for the Clearview Cats program pitched by the Georgian Triangle Humane Society (GTHS) at the Nov. 14 council meeting.
Councillors discussed the pros and cons of getting into the business of trying to control feral cat populations in the township.
“This is a small measure we can do to assist homeowners and residents,” said Councillor Shawn Davidson. “I don’t believe Clearview should get into forming a cat bylaw.”
The GTHS came to council asking for seed money for the program, which will subsidize spay and neutering for township residents who cannot afford it. They said unfixed cats that go outside and contribute to the feral cat population. The GTHS will continue to fund the program through donations and will continue to work in partnership with Creemore Cats, a group of local volunteers who work to control local feral cat populations.
A $175,000 expense for a fire department training building was removed from the budget. Fire Chief Colin Shewell said the funds were requested as part of a plan for a new fire hall and public works building in New Lowell. He anticipates the project will be back on the books for 2020/2021.
Two council members voted in opposition to the budget. Councillors Kevin Elwood and Connie Leishman were opposed to the increase.
“I’ll be damned if we are going over two per cent,” said Leishman earlier in the afternoon, as the additions were made.
Noteworthy, is that Councillor Thom Paterson voted in favour of the budget. He said it is the second time in all of his years on council that he has not opposed the final budget figures, for which at the end of a nine-hour council meeting, he was congratulated by Davidson.
Paterson said he is satisfied that staff did a thorough job of finding efficiencies.
He said he still wants a zero based component to the budgeting process that would identify spending efficiencies. Paterson said council has never had an appetite to do so even though staff are making some of these decisions on their own.
There are significant programs he wishes to support including the community improvement plan, Gowan park pavilion, trails, Eco park, arena improvements, increased derbies level for gravel roads, library fund, hospital fund, and local programs for youth and tourism.
The full budget package is available online at www.clearview.ca/home/budget.
Council doles out community assistance grants
As part of budget deliberations, council approved $22,700 in community grants. Requests totalled $48,950.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Georgian Triangle $1,000
Breaking Down Barriers $500
Brentwood Horticultural Society $600
Clearview Community Theatre $2,000
Clearview Stayner Food Bank $2,000
Creemore Cats $250
Creemore Horticultural Society $600
Crime Stoppers – Simcoe, Dufferin, Muskoka $500
CyberGnomes $1,000
Dunedin Literary Festival $500
Duntroon Stayner Road Race $500
Elephant Thoughts Educational Outreach $250
Georgian Triangle Anglers Association $250
Georgian Triangle Residential Resource Centre $1,500
Highlands Youth for Christ/The Door $1,000
Home Horizon Transitional Support Program $1,500
Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation $2,000
Magic of Children in the Arts $600
Manito Shrine Club $500
My Friend’s House – Collingwood Crisis Centre $1,000
Rent-a-Youth (aka Ray’s Place) $500
Royal Canadian Legion – Branch 397 Creemore $750
SilverShoe Historical Society $750
South Simcoe 4-H Association $250
Stayner Chamber of Commerce $500
Stayner Collegiate Institute Vimy trip 2017 $1,000
Stayner Heritage Society $300
Stayner Horticultural Society $600
