HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-04-15, Page 3Wednesday, April 15, 2015 • Huron Expositor 3
Huron
updateEast
toHuron East unveils first
Marco Vigliotti
official planHuron Expositor draft of 2015 budget
Huron East council is weigh-
ing changes to its official plan to
ensure the comprehensive doc-
ument conforms to new provin-
cial legislation governing
municipal planning.
Claire Dodds, Huron County's
senior planner, informed coun-
cil at its April 7 meeting that the
municipality is mandated to
implement several changes to
the central planning document
to make it consistent with the
upper -tier government's official
plan and the province's 2014
policy statement.
The changes, council docu-
ments show, touch upon a
diverse array of policy areas,
including economic develop-
ment, agriculture and
infrastructure.
Some of the most notable
adjustments focus on structur-
ing development, with the
municipality required to revise
its policies relating to growth,
intensification, affordable hous-
ing and servicing, according to
an information package on the
issue contained in council's
agenda.
The municipality will also be
required to define primary, sec-
ondary and tertiary urban areas,
as well as update its rules con-
cerning development near a
known gas deposit and commer-
cial scale water taking.
The county is proposing that
staff begin working immediately
on drafting policy and preparing
mapping for an update to Huron
East's official plan, aiming to
have the changes adopted by the
municipality's council by Octo-
ber 2015, according to a timeta-
ble contained in the information
package.
The updated official plan is to
be forwarded to Huron County
council for approval by Novem-
ber 2015, according to the pro-
vided timetable.
CORRECTION
There was an error in the Sea -
forth Agricultural Society's let-
ter to the editor on Page 5 in
the April 8 edition of the Huron
Expositor. The roof repairs were
completed by Matt SHORTREED
and his crew not Matt SHATNER.
The Expositor apolo-
gizes for the error.
Marco Vigliotti
Huron Expositor
The first draft of Huron East's
2015 budget contains a 5.4 per cent
levy hike and slashes spending by
roughly $560,000 compared to last
year, as the municipality seeks to
offset provincial funding cuts and
growing policing costs.
Huron East's treasurer, Paula
Michiels, presented council with
the preliminary $13.35 million
spending blueprint at its meeting
on Tuesday, where it was met
immediately with concerns from
members about the long-term sus-
tainability of the municipality's
finances, namely in regards to the
three recreation centres.
According to Michiels, Huron
East stands to lose about $340,000
in revenue from the Ontario
Municipal Partnership Fund, in
addition to facing a roughly $82,000
increase in the amount charged by
the Ontario Provincial Police for its
services.
She said the proposed tax hike
would provide an additional
$329,038 in revenue that should
cover most of the funding shortfall,
though the policing increase will
have to be "absorbed" within the
budget.
If passed, the tax increase would
work out to a $138 to $215 increase
for homeowners with the average
residential assessment of
$166,799.
Once again, council members
raised concerns with the financial
support being provided to the
municipality's three recreation
centres, all of which are projecting
operating deficits in the draft
budget.
The Seaforth arena is forecasting
the largest deficit at just under
$39,000, while Brussels expects to
come in roughly $14,000 over
budget.
Meanwhile, the Vanastra Recrea-
tion Centre owes its anticipated
$25,359 operating deficit to
planned repairs to a section of its
roof located above the fitness room
and men's changing room.
Michiels said council would
need to increase the municipal
levy by a further two per cent - or
$70,000 - to cover Vanastra's defi-
cit and provide an equitable
funding hike to the other
facilities.
Without additional financial
support, the municipality projects
the accumulated debt for the
recreation centres to climb to
roughly $310,000 in 2015. Once
again, the Seaforth arena is the
largest contributor, with its accu-
mulated debt estimated to grow to
just shy of $160,000.
"What needs to be addressed
later in 2015 is how we're going to
address the accumulated deficits,"
Michiels explained to council.
Mayor Bernie MacLellan asked
why the Seaforth arena was con-
tinuing to record such hefty defi-
cits after the municipality paid off
roughly $100,000 of the facility's
debt about three to four years
ago.
After the payment, he said the
arena committee informed the
municipality that they would now
be able to "toe the line" and bal-
ance their books.
"They haven't done it yet,"
MacLellan said.
While several councillors had
floated ideas for boosting arena
revenue at recent meetings, Coun.
Ray Chartrand expressed doubt
that the facilities would ever be
able to significantly improve their
fiscal standing with usage continu-
ing to fall.
"The associated, uncontrollable
costs of the arena, like hydro, wages
and stuff like that...they keep on
going up. But the ice time and
usage keeps on going down," he
said. "It doesn't seem that it's going
ea orthhuronex 1 ositor.co
to get better. And I don't think it'll
get better in the future."
With debate on whether there
exists a need for the municipality to
have two arenas intensifying in
recent months, Chartrand said it
might be time to form a committee
of "non -biased" members and an
outside consultant to complete a
full evaluation of what facility
should be closed if that was the
path council opted for.
The proposed committee, he
said, would consider a range of fac-
tors such as the state of the
building, the on-site equipment
and location.
As part of the belt -tightening to
offset the OPP hike and other
mounting expenses, the proposed
budget defers several planned
road projects to 2016, including
the $485,000 reconstruction of a
section of Seaforth's Sills Street
that the municipality's own road
asset inventory risk report warns
has a "high probability of failure
and a very high consequence of
failure."
It also delays reconstruction
work on parts of Church and
Franklin streets, both located in
Seaforth, which are also included
in the highest age -based risk cate-
gory in the asset report. The condi-
tions on those roadways, however,
are "not as bad as those on Sills
Street," Michiels said.
As well, administration
instructed all municipal depart-
ments and facilities to submit
budgets for 2015 at least year's
funding levels.
The draft budget actually pro-
poses an 11 per cent municipal levy
hike, which averages out to a 5.4
per cent total when combined with
the already approved 2.3 per cent
and one per cent increases to the
county and education levies
respectively.
Council will review and debate
the budget at its next meetings.
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