| Mar 27, 2019


The actual bylaw will have to wait for its next meeting but Central Frontenac Council finalized its 2019 budget at its regular meeting Tuesday in Sharbot Lake.

The increase in the amount to be raised by taxation is 6.11 per cent this year. In 2019, the Township will raise $8,219,860 compared with $7,746,394 in 2018 or an increase of $473,466.

Homeowners in Central Frontenac will pay an additional $36 for every $100,000 their property is assessed for.

Treasurer Michael McGovern said that assessment in the Township increased by 3.3 per cent this year, mostly resulting from Municipal Property Assessment Corporation phased in assessment increases which do not reflect new construction, the township calculated the increase at 2.5 per cent, which was the target they set for the 2019 budget.

Rink delegation
A delegation of Wanda Harrison and Jeff Matson appeared before Council on behalf of the Arden Rink, which, they said is in need of $13,700 worth of repairs.

Harrison told Council that from the skate-a-thon and some other fundraisers and donations, they have about $3,600 of that raised already.

Matson said that the boards have been removed and most of them will have to be replaced.

“The area of the rink would have to be excavated down about one foot and filled halfway up with crusher dust,” he said. “This would remove the organics that have grown up and once compacted down, there would be room for about a six-inch pond.

“The boards would then be replaced along the top edges of the excavation. Snow would not be necessary to bank up the edges before flooding.”

Matson said they were at Council to ask for money, either as a grant to pay for whatever shortfall the fundraising efforts ended up with or as a loan, which would be repaid through fundraising efforts.

He said they plan to start construction Sept. 1 and plan to hold several more fundraisers including a pasta dinner and country kitchen party later on in the summer.

He said they’d looked into grants and were unsuccessful but obtaining used boards from an indoor rink might be a possibility.

Mayor Frances Smith said this year’s budget was all but set but the request could be part of next year’s budget.

Smith back on EORN Board
Mayor Frances Smith told Council that she has once again been elected to the Eastern Ontario Regional Network Board.

“We’re working on a project to increase cell phone coverage,” she said.

Hold the popcorn …
Council decided against simulcasting meetings in the immediate future citing logistics and expense. They did, however, decide to ask the County IT department for information.

Most councilors agreed that broadcasting meetings would show transparency but questioned how many viewers such a broadcast would get.

“When I was working in Belleville, one time my boss asked me what I did last night,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “I told him I watched Belleville City Council on TV.

“He told me to ‘get a life.’”

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