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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-08-23, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1989. Higher values for Blyth buildings means higher insurance Blyth village councillors decided Friday night, to accept the higher values put on municipal buildings by its insurance company and the $1800 increase in premiums those increases mean. Dave Reid of Frank Cowan Company, and Rick Elliott of Elliott Insurance of Blyth, had met with council at its Thursday night ses­ sion with the proposal for the village insurance policy for 1989- 90. Mr. Reid had told council that although insurance costs were about the same as last year for the same coverage, he and Mr. Elliott had looked at all the village properties, measured them and photographed them and the valua­ tion put on the buildings for replacement value had increased, in some cases dramatically. There is a built-in annual inflation factor in the insurance policies but it has not kept up to the actual costs. Largest increase in replacement value, for instance, is the Blyth and District Community Centre with the value going from $1.3 to $2.3 million. Building costs for arenas have jumped from $40 per square foot to $80 in the last couple of years and the building has 30,000 square feet, he said. A replacement value of $360,000 for the main street municipal building was also given in the insurance report. The value of Memorial Hall was up slightly as was the value for several other municipally owned buildings. In all the valuation of municipal build­ ings jumped from $2.8 million to $4.3 million. The increase would mean an extra $1800 in premium costs, Mr. Reid said, but “taxpayers won’t thank you for saving money on insurance if the building burns down and you don’t have enough insurance.” He suggested council might cut the overall costs by increasing the deductible cbuse to $1,000 from the current $500, a saving of nearly $1,000. He noted the history of the Bell adds new equipment in Blyth In 1989 Bell Canada will spend $50,000 on additional digital trans­ mission equipment to improve service for the 939 customers in the Blyth exchange, the Company said recently. In 1988, $18,248.80 was paid in gross receipts tax, which is set at five per cent of all telecommunica­ tions revenue from Bell operations in Ontario in the preceding year. The amount apportioned to each exchange is based on the number of Bell telephones in use. In 1988 this amount was $30.41 per tele­ phone. In addition there was a total of $2.2 billion spent on capital im­ provements in 1988, with $1,408 billion of that being spent in Ontario. It is forecast that this year’s amount for Ontario will reach $1,387 billion of the $2.3 billion to be spent. “This investment helps to main­ tain affordable, high quality local telephone service fc fhe people of Blyth,” says Tom Bennett, Bell’s local manager. “It’s a part of Bell’s overall construction program that represents an investment of more than $300 per customer per year. village’s insurance claims showed few between the $500 and $1,000 amount. Council took up the issue again Friday night in the second part of its marathon two-night meeting. Reeve Albert Wasson said coun­ cil had to justify the extra $1800 in premiums. He said he could see an increase in insurance for Memorial Hall since it isn’t going up that much in cost and there may be increased risk with construction this year but “what’s going to happen to the lawn bowling club­ house?” he wondered. Others questioned the increase in value on the municipal office. In the end, however, councillors reluctantly agreed to go along with the higher premium and decided against increasing the deductible clause, feeling it wouldn’t take much of an accident with town machinery on somebody’s car to eat up any saving. Inflating experience Marian Doucette (right) works with Kerry Hallahan to make a balloon animal during a workshop at the Blyth Library Thursday. A full house of youngsters learned to create different animals with balloons. Now 27." Now 28." 160-110 Now 29." INTERIOR PEARL LATEX INTERIOR LATEX FLAT Now 26."Now 23." PEARL WHITE BASE FLAT WHITE BASE Now 27."Now 24." LATEX SEMI 1 COAT EZS Oldfield Now 28." Pro Hardware INTERIOR LATEX PRIMER Now 23."and Radio Shack 887-6851BRUSSELS 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 26.99 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 26.99 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 36.99 [163-111] 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 39.99 [163-301] 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 39.99 [162-111] 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 29.99 [165-125] /hack Radio ALKYD PEARL 1 COAT 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 39.99 [120-111] INTERIOR ALKYD BASE 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 39.99 [130-301] INTERIOR ALKYD SEMI GLOSS 4 LITRE PAIL REG. 37.99 [130-110]