Looking ahead to ‘lame duck’ council

Clearview council voted on a number of items in anticipation of a pending “lame duck” situation. The Ontario Municipal Act prohibits council from approving any items more than $50,000 over the original budget once the nomination deadline for a new council has passed. This could potentially force delays in several key projects.

Mike Rawn, Director of Public Works asked council to increase the budget for the Creemore Waste Water Master Servicing Plan to $351,000. There is an agreement in principle from the development community to fund the cost of the study, but the township will have to do the work first and then invoice developers. Without the amendment to approve the increased spending before the nomination deadline, the work could be put on hold.

Council also voted to increase the budget for an extension to the Phillips Street sewer main in Stayner so that tenders could be called this fall. Original plans called for the sewer and watermains to be brought to the centre of Highway 26 with portions of the road excavated during construction. Traffic disruption was so extreme during the first phase of the operation that the Ministry of Transportation ordered a change to a “jack and sleeve” construction method. The anticipated cost has risen from approximately $2,600,000 to $3,150,000.

Meanwhile, costs for a wastewater servicing plan for south east Stayner have increased by roughly 10 per cent to $1,157,000. Developers earlier offered to increase their contribution by $10,000 per development lot thus reducing the cost for existing property owners on Sunnidale Street. Township CAO John Ferguson has been authorized to register collateral charges against development lands to ensure the township has security and allow the work to proceed this fall.