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Monthly Archives: March 2013

Council Meeting Summary – March 19, 2013

23 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

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Tags

Bridge Art, DBA, Parks, parry sound, Planning, PS Power, Town Council, train

The meeting on Tuesday went longer than I initially expected, with a couple of twists. But in the end there were few surprises, except with respect to Parry Sound Hydro Corporation (see below). Here are my key takeaways from the meeting.

The town’s official plan was briefly reviewed prior to the council meeting. Only one comment was received, a statement in support of the plan from the Active Transportation Committee. The plan will return to to council for approval, and then a trip to Toronto for provincial review.

Meeting Highlights

Councillors and Mayor Reports, Questions of Staff

The new, increasingly famous, 7 Ton snow plow truck has been received and is in operation. It has been getting a workout this week.

The town has received informal federal approval for the Cascade Street railway crossing arms. Installation is tentatively scheduled for this fall.

Parry Sound Hydro Corporation announced that it is entering into discussions with Lakeland Holding Ltd to collaborate on power generation and operations. Lakeland is a power generation company operating local facilities including Bracebridge, Huntsville and Sundridge. The discussion points include collaborating on an expansion of the Cascade Street generating facility. Here are links to the press release and backgrounder.

Correspondence and Deputations

5.1 – the deputation on the Mission Park rejuvenation, item 9.2.1 below, was very well received by council. This initiative is being championed by the town’s chief administrative officer, and seemed to develop real traction.

Resolutions and Directions to Staff

9.1.1 – the whole issue of Off Road Vehicle (ORV) use in Parry Sound was actively debated with a couple of councillors showing support for consideration of some sort of ATV approval in town. The resolution was defeated with council agreeing with staff that an ORV by-law not be drafted, at least for now. The key issues raised by those not in favour of a by-law were: the need for a new agreement with the OPP which would be much too costly, and the lack of ‘sponsorship’ by organized ATV groups. The access that snowmobiles enjoy in town is due in large part to the financial support and ‘policing’ provided by formal snowmobile clubs. There is nothing similar with ATV (ORV) riders who in general are loathe to pay for the privilege of operating their vehicles on what they consider to be publicly funded roads and trails. Council requested the by-law department pick up the topic again in the late summer when there is time to further investigate the logistics of some sort of local ORV access. Council sees challenges with permitting ORVs in town but is willing to consider reasonable options, which would need to include handling the policing costs.

9.2.1 – council approved a resolution to endorse a grant application to Canadian National Railways to rehabilitate Mission Park. They also kicked in another $4,000, for a total of $8,000 of ‘in kind’ support. Council was effusive in their support for more park and recreation facilities for the Mission Park area of town. Council also asked that $25,000 for park equipment, for all town parks, be included in the 2013 budget discussions. This won’t impact the 2013 levy as the funds would be taken from the well-funded parkland reserve fund.

9.4.1 – council rejected a variance in the current signage by-laws to permit a realtor’s sign next to a downtown mural.

9.4.2 – a request that council endorse in principle the Downtown Business Association’s downtown revitalization plan was carried.

9.4.3 – council approved issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) regarding use of the Old Fire Hall. This is similar to the RFP that was issued for the CP Station and resulted in a long term lease with Festival of the Sound.

9.5.1 – a resolution for approval of E.A. Shipman’s tender in the amount of $354,000 for the modification of Sewage Station #11 was carried. Note this station serves the east side of town (Bowes Street), not the downtown as reported in my council preview notes.

9.5.2 – a resolution to have the town accept the Bridge Inspections report was approved. In all the bridges need an estimated $1.2 million in repair work over the next ten years was accepted by council.

By-Laws

10.2.1 – council approved a by-law to provide a Schedule of Retention Periods for the records of the Town of Parry Sound and establish a Records Management Policy.

10.4.1 – a by-law to declare property surplus and identify a means of sale for Town owned property on MacFarlane Street was carried with an expectation that the property would be listed in mid-April.

10.4.2 –  the town approved a by-law to permit ORVs on Parry Sound town streets for the annual ATV Spring Jam. The dates are April 26 & 27.

There was more. This post attempts to capture the more critical items in the eyes of the writer.

Bridge Philosopher and Critic’s Review

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Council Agenda Preview – March 19, 2013

17 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

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Agenda, Bridge Art, By-Law, DBA, Parks, Town Council

This is another light meeting in terms of the agenda items. The council meeting is preceded by an open meeting presenting and reviewing the town’s official plan.

Correspondence and Deputations:

4.1 – there is a letter from the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs announcing a municipal politicians seminar on the May 5th and 6th.

5.1 – there is a scheduled deputation on the Mission Park rejuvenation – see item 9.2.1 below.

Resolutions and Directions to Staff

9.1.1 – town staff is recommending that Parry Sound not adopt an Off Road Vehicle (ORV) by-law as was requested by a member of the public at a recent town council meeting. In reading the supporting materials I see that there is no clear cut and dry argument for or against the use of ORV on Parry Sound streets. The cons relate to: the need for an agreement with the OPP to police their use, damage to the town infrastructure (road edges) and the need to provide limits on where they might go. There are a number of parties in favour of the wider use of ORVs in Parry Sound. The report to council is quite detailed and worth reading. My sense is that council will accept the staff recommendation, but with additional work by interested groups it is possible that ORVs may, with time, be permitted for limited use in town.

9.2.1 – a resolution on the agenda for council to endorse a grant application to Canadian National Railways to rehabilitate Mission Park. The resolution also requests $4,000 from the town’s Tree Planting budget, and that $25,000 be considered for inclusion in the 2013 budget, or funding from the Parkland Reserve Fund.

9.4.2 – is a request that council endorse in principle the Downtown Business Association’s downtown revitalization plan. The full plan, along with details will be provided to council at a later date.

9.4.3 – staff is requesting approval to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) regarding use of the Old Fire Hall. This is similar to the RFP that was issued for the CP Station and resulted in a long term lease with Festival of the Sound.

9.5.1 – is a resolution requesting approval for a tender in the amount of $354 thousand for the modification of Sewage Station #11, that serves Parry Sound downtown. The tenders received ranged from a low of $354 thousand to a high of $486 thousand.

9.5.2 – is a resolution to have the town accept the Bridge Inspections report. In all the bridges need an estimated $1.2 million in repair work over the next ten years. The big pieces are: patch and pave ($200,000), and replace joints ($150,000) on the Seguin Street Bridge, and sandblast and paint ($400,000) the Fitness Trail’s Seguin pedestrian bridge. Ouch.

By-Laws

10.2.1 – is a by-law to provide a Schedule of Retention Periods for the records of the Town of Parry Sound; establish a Records Management Policy.

10.4.1 – is a by-law to declare property surplus and identify a means of sale for Town owned property on MacFarlane Street.

10.4.2 – is a by-law to permit ORVs on Parry Sound town streets for the annual ATV Spring Jam. The dates are April 26 & 27.

There was more. This post attempts to capture the more important agenda items. See you there.

Bridge Art 2012 – Anarchy

ParrySounds-5624

Northern Ontario Levy Rates

15 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Reflections

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Tags

parry sound, Taxes, TOPS Financial Analysis

In an earlier post on the Parry Sound budget I said that I would provide my thoughts on the McSweeney report “A Commissioned Council Study of Tax Rate Comparisons” for the 2011 tax year. Here is a copy of portions of the report.

Here’s the ‘meat’ of the report, the relative levy rates (this is a cut and paste and I can’t really get the columns to line up as nicely as I’d like).

Comparative Taxation Rates   2011                              
Town               Education                     Residential                 Total      
Espanola               0.00231                     0.02439743                 0.02670743
Blind River            0.00231                     0.01756255                 0.01987255
Orillia                   0.00231                     0.01124481                 0.01355481
Elliot Lake            0.00231                      0.01716628                 0.01947628
S.S.M.                 0.00231                      0.01711494                 0.01942494
Parry Sound        0.00231                       0.01049800                 0.01280800
Sudbury(Gr)        0.00231                       0.01158328                 0.01655818
Valley East          0.00231                       0.01347004                 0.01560004
Sudbury(o)         0.00231                       0.01274835                 0.01505835
Timmins             0.00231                       0.01826198                 0.02057193
North Bay           0.00231                       0.01441301                 0.01672301
W. Nipissing       0.00231                       0.01071797                  0.01302797
Baldwin Twp       0.00231                        0.01785700                 0.02016700
Dryden              0.00241                        0.01307466                 0.01548466
Kenora               0.00231                        0.01411000                 0.01642000

Tax   Calculation  Formula  for   2011
Assessed House Value x Total = Amount of Taxes Paid
$100 000 x  0.02670743 = $2670.74   (Espanola)
$100 000   x  0.01947628 = $1947.63    (Elliot Lake)

And by extension a house in Parry Sound assessed at $100,000 would be taxed at $1,280.80. So we must have a lower tax rate. Well, in theory yes, but in reality no.

Tax rates are set to pay for the services and investments the municipality is required to make. So if the municipality has expenses of $1 million per year and an assessment of $100 million, the levy is $0.01 per dollar of assessment. If for some reason IMPAC decided the value of the properties was $200 million, rather than $100 million, the levy would be $0.005 per dollar of assessment. The tax bill is exactly the same for each property owner, the levy is simply adjusted to meet the revenue requirements for the town.

Now, if you were to decide to retire in Elliott Lake would you expect to pay the same money for a comparable house, with the same amount of land, as you do in Parry Sound? Not likely. Elliott Lake real estate has a lower value, for the same package, than does Parry Sound real estate. There are several reasons for this, mostly related to the town’s proximity to the major urban centres of Ontario and the availability of federal and provincial services. So a $100,000 home in Elliott Lake presumably has more ‘house’ and ‘property’ than a house in Parry Sound, and would be considered to be a ‘better bargain’ if only square feet were considered.

Let’s take a look at a Parry Sound house with an assessment of $122,000 from the public tax records. It is a modest home on about 1/5th of an acre. Now take this property and move it to Mississauga. Would it be worth $122,000? Of course not, it would probably be worth $400,000 just for the lot as a tear down. So what we are seeing is that it’s effectively the assessed value of all homes in a community that determines the levy.

And if you were to go through the various levies you would find that the further a community is from Southern Ontario, the higher their levy. It’s geography, that determines the assessment which in turn determines the levy rate. There can be exceptions where a town and council have decided to over invest in some services that unreasonably raises the tax rates, but this is generally self-regulating.

So, rather than compare the relative taxes for a $100,000 house, compare the relative taxes for the ‘median’ house in a community. I think you will find the figures are much, much closer than this report suggests. But the report doesn’t provide those figures. It doesn’t work to the benefit of the Espanola tax payers unhappy with their taxes. Why didn’t they compare themselves to Sault Saint Marie or Timmins? Because the difference isn’t as great. Lies, damn lies and statistics. Well these really aren’t statistics, but people who understand numbers can too easily use them to confuse those who don’t.

Our tax rates in Parry Sound are reasonable for the value of our properties in the context of house size, lot size, town services and proximity to the Big Smoke. You can’t get the same house in Parry Sound for the same price as in Espanola or Blind River. As some people have found when you move to Parry Sound from Southern Ontario you can get ‘more house’ for less money, but your taxes will probably be about the same. And if you move to Elliott Lake or Espanola you will get even more house for your money, or the same house for less money, but your taxes once again will be about the same. It’s all about the levy multiplied by the assessment that determines your taxes, not just one or the other.

If you want lower taxes, move to a municipality that provides fewer services. We have a few of them right around us.

Think our levies would be as low as they are if the Big Sound looked like this all year round?

ParrySounds-5085

Budget Meeting Notes – March 11, 2013

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Budget/Financial, Parry Sound, Town Council

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budget, Capital Investment, economic development, Parking, parry sound, Town Council

The discussion at the budget meeting this past Monday was more relaxed and focused. It was also shorter, about two hours. Remember, this summary covers only the key discussion items, it was a two-hour meeting and you really need to be at these meetings if you want all the details.

Previous Meeting Rehash:

See my earlier post for a summary of what was discussed and agreed at the meeting on March 6th. A couple of the topics from that meeting came back for discussion on the 11th.

Bridge repairs: the town has a work plan for more than $1 million related to bridge repairs in town. The intention is to get through the list of repairs over the next ten years or so, with the focus each year on the most urgent items. With that qualification it appears that the Seguin pedestrian bridge repairs, while urgent, constitute only a small portion of the budgeted repairs for 2013. The other, more costly, bridge in need of urgent repair is the longer span of the Cascade Street bridge.

Water meters: this issue came back for discussion but with a reduced budget request – $65,000. This would cover only the hardware costs for about 120 meters. Installation would be done by town staff, presumably taking time from other budgeted items. Council approved the expense for 2013 after much discussion on a split 4/3 vote. (Quick note – whenever you see a 4/3 vote it means council was split 3/3, or 2/2, and the mayor cast the deciding vote.) The councillors who voted against the expenditure argued that this was largely a nice to have (my words) investment that had absolutely no potential for a payback. On this latter point the numbers support their position. The installation of the meters will save the town less than $1,000 per year, all related to meter reading costs.

New Budget Items:

Wastewater infrastructure: The proposed wastewater investments for 2013 were approved with limited discussion. These investments come out of the wastewater reserves, which are paid for through your monthly water bills. The planned wastewater investments for 2103 total about $1 million. Work would start in the Fall to limit traffic issues during tourist season.

Flower Baskets: council agreed to pre-budget approval of $15,000 for downtown flower baskets. Once again we have a pre-budget expense approval request from the councillor who determinedly shot down another councillors pre-budget approval request a couple of meetings ago on the basis that council could not provide such approval on the basis of principle. I guess politicians are allowed to adjust their principles when they need to support a particular pet project.

Communities of Distinction: council was given a ‘heads up’ on an opportunity to market the town through a program called “Communities of Distinction”. This is a television production that proposes to profile Parry Sound as one of a number of ‘towns of distinction’. The cost, ‘to cover expenses’, would be about $25,000. Council agreed to consider this investment subject to further investigation and due diligence.

Tree Replacement: council briefly discussed tree replacement in the context of the many trees that needed to be cut down on Tower Hill. The Director of Public Works indicated that a proposal for tree replacement would be coming to council in the next couple of meetings.

Transit expenses: this was a topic that involved a review of the use and cost figures for the years through 2012. The net/net is that the per ride cost to the town for the service in 2012 was high, about $10 for the regular transit users, and almost $50 for the users of the specialized transit. Costs for the specialized service are expected to increase considerably in 2013, perhaps as much as $60,000. Council requested that staff look at what other communities are doing to address the challenge of the new regulations.
An aside here. This is an issue that was supposed to come back to council with a recommendation in September 2012. What are we doing getting the bad news in March 2013 without a firm list of alternatives and a recommendation? This is an issue that has been neglected, perhaps because it’s ‘not easy’. Let’s get off our asses and do the necessary analysis and research to come forward with a recommendation. If necessary hire a consultant experienced with these issues. It needs to be done when there is time to reflect and review, not as part of the 2013 budget discussion crunch.

Bottom Line: my understanding is that the budget gap is about $215,000, including a 1.5% increase in the levy. Council discussed the use of the rate stabilization fund to limit the levy increase, as well as the impact of a slightly higher levy increase. No decision was made with regard to where the additional funds might come. I also did not hear when the next budget meeting was scheduled, I think it was suggested that it would be in April.

It’s worth noting that these council budget discussions cover a smaller part of the 2013 Parry Sound operating expenses. These other costs, let’s call them Ongoing Expenses, are subject only to internal staff review. Reviewing these expenses I find that the greatest changes in expenses (greater than 10%) versus 2012 budget are are:

Municipal Government: +16% (up $31,000)
Parking: +15% (up $22,000)
Commercial & Industrial Development: +26% (up $119,000)

In many cases the individual budgeted costs for 2013 are down relative to 2012. Overall budget costs for these Ongoing Expenses are a little below the actual expenses for 2012 (about 1% less) and down 7.6% from the 2012 budget.

That’s it. I’ll post as more 2013 Parry Sound budget information becomes public. But I will post up my thoughts in the next few days concerning the McSweeney analysis of the relative levies for towns in Northern Ontario.

Tower Hill After the First Cull of Dead Trees (click image for larger view)

ParrySounds-2407

Budget Meeting Notes – March 6, 2013

09 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Budget/Financial, Town Council

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

budget, Capital Investment, parry sound, Town Council

This meeting ran from about 6:00 to 9:00 PM and focused on a number of one-time capital and non-recurring expenses. An introduction was offered that helped put the budget items into context with respect to the overall 2013 budget. This summary captures only the more significant, or controversial, items.

  1. Property Sales: There is the expectation that the town will receive about $500,000 from the disposal of town owned property. Council agreed that this revenue should be put in to reserves or set against capital expenses, rather than be used to offset operating expenses.
  2. Stockey Centre: The Stockey Centre needs a new roof, to the tune of about $190,000. This should be covered by established reserves. It seemed to be agreed in principle that the repairs would be made in 2013.
  3. Road Resurfacing: This was a major topic of discussion. The current proposed budget of $100,000 seemed to be far from adequate to cover the major work that needs to be done. It was noted that some streets are not candidates for resurfacing this year as their underlying infrastructure is in need of repair. Later discussion focused on finding other areas from which money could be taken to increase the road resurfacing budget.
  4. Public Works Capital: This took up much of the meeting time. It seems that the town needs to replace a number of its vehicles, to the tune of about $530,000. This includes two 7 Ton Plow trucks at $200,000 each, and three pickup trucks. Now, I don’t think the Director of Public works is starting his own full sized ‘Hot Wheels’ collection, so I guess we need these vehicles. There was a good case made for the two 7 Ton Plows, which was subject to extensive discussion. It seems the town is behind the eight-ball in terms of vehicle replacement and needs to play catch-up. Council it seems doesn’t think this is the year to do it. One of the 7 Ton plows actually was ordered last year but hasn’t yet arrived, and comes out of this year’s budget.
    Council has suggested that the other 7 Ton plow be ordered this year for delivery on January 2, 2014, so that it hits the 2014 budget (seems like a bit of ‘verboten’ pre-budget authorization). Council did suggest that $100,000 of the savings from delaying the plow be invested in road resurfacing, bringing it up to $200,000. With the respect to the pickup trucks the council recommendation was ‘buy used’. Seems to be a reasonable idea, but it’s really ‘nickel and diming’ the budget. The savings will probably be on the order of $30,000 for all three pickup trucks. And what about colour? The town fleet is red, do we only buy red used pickups, or do we pay to paint them red? Or do we say to heck with it, any colour as long as it’s cheap. In the end staff was tasked with investigating the used truck option. There are no easy answers here, but there are better places to save some money. I’ll share a couple of my thoughts as we move forward.
  5. The Rotary Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail over the Seguin River needs urgent repairs to the tune of $60,000. One councillor felt that the repair was unnecessary and the bridge could be closed. He was reminded that it was an important link in the town’s trail system and it was used for snow machine traffic in the winter. Closing the bridge would mean having more pedestrian traffic on Bowes Street, not necessarily a good idea. How would the snow machines connect with the rest of the trail? Up Bowes Street? And what about the petunias on the town bridge? Would they be subject to even more violence? In the end it seems the $60,000 was left in the budget.
  6. Then there is the issue of $150,000 in repairs to the Salt Dock boat launch. Yes, that’s $150,000. It was interesting to see that council never asked if there was a more economical approach to providing this service to the public, or alternative repair approach. Rather, council spent considerable time discussing the option to charge user fees. But of course they felt we would first need to look into monitoring how many people use the launch (I’m not really sure why). So staff was tasked with looking into traffic monitors. Council felt that the Salt Dock ramp was an absolutely critical town resource, and it was suggested that it was the busiest public boat launch between MacTier and Britt, and a necessary asset to keep tourists coming to Parry Sound. I’m not sure that it is that critical, but as a boater I’m happy to go along with the repair. But $150,000? I am familiar with the launch and I really don’t see how it can cost that much. Yes you need to do underwater work. But $150,000? Sitting at my desk I estimate the ramp is perhaps 20 feet wide and 40 feet long (under the water), which works out to almost $200.00 a square foot. There have to be other options. And my sense is that the idea of user fees is a non-starter, it will cost as much to have it monitored as it will bring in revenue. And what about at night, do we lock the ramp (an additional cost)? What hours will it be open? Now that’s sure to lead to some annoyed boaters who might take alternative approaches to their predicament. Bottom line – ask staff to look into alternative ramp options and forget the traffic counter.
  7. And the Waubano Street launch needs to be dredged. That and burying the storm sewer on the beach will cost an additional $50,000. And council wants to grant pre-budget approval for this project and the Salt Dock ramp because the suppliers are busy and we need to get in line. My take on this is sit down, take a couple of deep breaths, and ask what we need and how much it’s worth. Do we really need another boat ramp at Waubano if we are slated to have a ‘double wide’ ramp at the Sat Dock that is less than a kilometer away? Remember we also have a boat ramp over at Champagne Street.
  8. Gazebos for the park areas were dropped in the absence of corporate sponsorship. No complaint from me on this decision.
  9. The ice resurfacer at the Bobby Orr Community Centre needs replacing or a major overhaul. A major overhaul was suggested by council.
  10. Computer upgrades to the tune of $35,000 were proposed. This was required for council and staff to go ‘paperless’, and I guess buy everyone an iPad. This will depend on a recommendation from the IT group and a final decision by council. I have a bit of personal experience in this area and I’ll be interested in seeing what council decides.
  11. There was too much discussion about shredding. Staff is asking for a $5,000 shredder, but the discussion went on about how we could use a portable shredding service. (The town already does.)
  12. The new fire truck, a $1,000,000-plus Telesquirt was deferred until the new Fire Chief comes on board.
  13. Repairs to the Town Dock and Big Sound Marina budgeted at $65,000 received very little discussion and made the cut.
  14. There was extensive discussion about the installation of remote reading water meters. Staff has suggested a $250,000 upgrade to about 500 meters that will save the town about $2,000annually in out-sourced meter reading services. Council wisely turned down this budget item.
  15. Repainting and cleaning of the Bowes Street water tower was approved in principle at a cost of $120,000.
  16. There was extensive debate about installing an automatic water dispenser on Parry Sound Drive for use by commercial customers. The unit costs about $45,000. The water sales bring in about $65,000 annually. The concern was that the Industrial Park north of town is also looking at installing a similar dispenser that could take business from Parry Sound and possibly reduce or eliminate the potential profit from the dispenser installation. Some good points were made but the bottom line is that if we don’t install the unit we will lose the business and it will cost the town $65,000 in revenue for something that doesn’t have an incremental cos to the town (the water facility is largely a fixed cost). In the end council approved the investment, but only after the Mayor cast the deciding vote (4-3).

There was much more, it was a three-hour meeting but these are the highlights of the discussion in my opinion. Round 2 is Monday, March 11th starting at 6:30 PM. Be on time if you want a ringside seat. I’ll be there.

Actually you can arrive late and still get a ringside seat. But be sure to let town staff know you will be there if you want a copy of the budget to follow along with the discussion.

(I may come back and edit this post. I wanted to get it up sooner rather than later and it might have some typos that I’ll catch on further review.)

Preamble to Budget Review Posts

08 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Budget/Financial, Town Council

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

budget, Capital Investment, parry sound, Town Council

The 2013 budget discussions are currently a top priority at Parry Sound Town Hall. This is, as one councillor noted, after fully one-sixth of the budgeted year has already passed. I wonder how we paid for anything the last two months considering that there hasn’t been an approved budget and a couple of the councillors made a strong point at council meetings of not being willing to considering any new ‘pre-budget’ expenses. Hmm. Maybe we’re issuing IOUs.

The municipal budgeting process is, I am beginning to understand, its own unique beast that ties in with municipal accounting practices. It’s neither good, nor bad; it’s what it is. The bottom line is that the annual budget needs to be balanced every year (a good thing), but it can be balanced by increasing or decreasing taxes, adding money to – or taking money from reserves, or issuing debentures (taking a loan). Regardless, I’m not going to be discussing the financial mechanics of the Parry Sound budgeting process; rather I will be looking at where staff and council are planning on spending, or not spending, money in 2013. I actually prefer to consider it as ‘investing’ rather than ‘spending’. Where money is invested can provide a good idea of where council places its priorities.

One interesting aspect of the budgeting process is that for the most part smaller capital items are budgeted and paid for on an annual basis. That means if you want two pickup trucks in 2013 at $40,000 each you need to budget $80,000 that year. If you can’t afford the two in one year you need to forgo the truck until the next year. This is despite the fact that a truck purchased in 2013 will not be used up this year, it will be useful for a number of years. This means the town needs to have, and implement, a capital items replacement plan so that it doesn’t get whacked with three or four pickup trucks and two snow plows in one year (as we see in the Parry Sound 2013 budget). Council can only keep pushing back capital replacement items before it piles up and bites us in the ass. That seems to be a little of what we are facing. It’s pretty easy for staff to cave in to council and push things back another year. That doesn’t seem to be the case here where staff is trying to recover from a number of years of relative underinvestment. This creates an interesting dynamic with council who are trying to keep the expenses as low as possible so as to limit, or eliminate, any property tax increases. And we are now past the half way mark in this term of council so they are starting to think about an election, even if it’s more than a year away.

So in these posts I’ll focus on the various items that staff and council are wrestling with, rather than the accounting part of it. As appropriate I’ll adding a little colour commentary to share my sense of where the various players, staff and council, are with respect to individual budget line items.

The budget is a public document. If you want a copy you can request it from the town. Better yet request a copy and show up at the next budget meeting to follow along as the discussion progresses. I’ll be offering a summary of the discussions a day or three after the budget meetings are held. Oh, the traditional media doesn’t consistently cover these meetings and Cogeco doesn’t record and broadcast them, so attend the meetings or check back for the latest post right here.

This is where they make the ‘budget sausage’.

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Council Meeting Summary – March 5, 2013

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ Comments Off on Council Meeting Summary – March 5, 2013

Tags

Bridge Art, By-Law, parry sound, Rezoning, Town Council, Water Management

Correspondence and Deputations:

4.1, 4.2, 4.3 – three letters of correspondence were noted, and forwarded on to the appropriate department for follow up. See the council preview post for details and my initial comments.

There were no scheduled deputations this week.

Questions of Staff:

There was a question of staff regarding snow removal, particularly the snow banks lining the town streets. It was explained that the front end loader had been out of commission. It was now fixed so snow bank clearing could resume. As I walked home along Bowes Street after the council meeting I saw it in action with three dump trucks waiting to be filled.

There was also a question about the stability of the east side wall of the Bobby Orr Community Centre. Apparently some movement has been seen in the wall. The Public Works director said that the situation was being actively monitored by town staff and the engineering firm responsible for the design. There should be further information in a month or so.

Mayor and Councillor Reports (in order of presentation, and selected highlights only):

Bonnie Keith – reported on the Belvedere Heights board meeting and noted that the library is looking for additional funding.

Dan McCauley – my apologies to the councillor. My pen ran out during his report and I resorted to waving my pen around in hopes of forcing enough ink forward to make it through the end of the meeting. No luck, I was forced to take notes on my iPod Touch (not easy). Anyway, he reported that the federal boundaries will not be changed. We are still part of Northern Ontario. Also, the town’s infrastructure grant application to the province has passed the first hurdle, but there are additional reviews coming.

Paul Borneman – fuel sales are down at the airport, and there are some discussions about expanded use of the airport.

Jamie McGarvey – according to a review by McSweeney and Associates Parry Sound has the lowest tax rates, per dollar of assessed property, of the fifteen Northern Ontario towns surveyed. I think this report, or perhaps how it is interpreted, needs some explanation. I believe it’s not quite so simple to conclude we have the lowest tax rates. I’ll post my thoughts on this next week.

Resolutions and Directions to Staff

9.1.1 – a resolution to discontinue negotiations with Creative Outdoor Advertising was approved, but not after too much debate, in my opinion. A couple of the councillors seem to think that the time required to negotiate and manage this marketing program is worth the thousand bucks or so. It seems we only get about 10% of the revenue the company charges the advertisers. We really don’t need to junk up the town with these bench billboards. How about a billboard on the side the Municipal Office for a thousand bucks? Or as I mentioned in my last post how about signs during council meetings at each of the councillor’s seats with advertising. The same idea as what is being done at the Stockey Centre. A couple of the councillors should be able to secure premium fees given the amount of time they speak and the corresponding exposure an ad would receive on Cogeco. Enough said.

9.2.1 –a direction to develop a records retention policy was approved with limited discussion.

9.4.2 – Ribfest is back for 2013, from July 11th to 14th. The resolution to lift the noise restrictions for the duration of the event was carried. Town staff was tasked with identifying additional activities that could be run in parallel with Ribfest. Staff said they would need to speak with the organizers of Ribfest to get their agreement. There are contractual and logistical issues that need to be addressed.

9.5.1, 9.5.2 – the two resolutions to accept the annual water treatment and waste water reports were carried. The councillors were effusive in their praise for the way these two facilities are operated.

9.5.3 – a resolution to accept the proposed video surveillance policy was carried without any real discussion.

9.6.2 – a resolution to accept the IBI Report recommendation for the Argyle EMS station was approved.

By-Laws

10.2.1 – a by-law to increase the cemetery fees was carried.

10.4.1 – a by-law to renew, with revisions, the Now That’s Catering agreement for catering services at the Stockey Centre received considerable discussion before being approved. Council asked whether people renting the facility could specify their own caterer. The answer was no, all parties are required to use Now That’s Catering. The primary reason was to ensure consistent management of the Stockey Centre’s kitchen, an issue for food safety inspections, and this would limit the burden placed upon Stockey staff. However, non-profit organizations would be able to bring in their own food and refreshments so long as they did not require use of the Stockey Centre’s kitchen. So, some revisions were made to the agreement that seem to meet the greater needs of all parties involved. The Stockey Centre manager agreed to monitor, and report back to council, whether the limitation of a single caterer was negatively impacting rentals.

10.4.2 – a by-law to rezone town property for the proposed Age in Place development beside Canadore College was carried with limited discussion.

10.4.3 – a by-law to declare surplus and put up for sale the lots carved out of the William Street Park was carried. This is the next step in the process to capture value for the properties and to spur additional development. The town is proposing to put the proceeds into a reserve.

10.4.4 – a by-law to close up the Sarah and Clara Street road allowances was carried. As I discovered at the meeting these pieces of property can be put up for sale by the town regardless of whether or not the province agrees to lift the restricting covenant. These are small non-existent streets off George Street and are part of the larger property the town hopes to put up for sale if the province agrees.

There was more but this post tries to capture the more important points of the meeting.

Click on the link below and it will take you to http://www.parrysights.com, where I have combined the Bridge Art photos into two videos. This will link you to Part 2.

Bridge Art – The Video (Part 2)

Bridge Art - Smile

Council Agenda Preview – March 5, 2013

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Agenda, Archipelago, Bridge Art, By-Law, Carling, parry sound, Planning, Rezoning, School, Seguin, Town Council, Water Management

Agenda Highlights:

Correspondence and Deputations:

4.1, 4.2, 4.3 – there are three letters of correspondence. All three are interesting in their own way, and I offer a few comments.

Near North District School Board (NNDSB) is requesting quick town review and approval for investments in water supply, road upgrades and sidewalks. The NNDSB is prepared to make these investments at their own cost, but with town approval. It is not that simple of course. The NNDSB also included proposals for the Town of Parry sound to co-invest in upgrades to these investments that would improve town facilities, at a price that could exceed $500,000. And they want a quick decision to allow pre-construction of the new school to start this spring. I’m sure this will be a topic for the budget discussion review on the 6th.

The West Parry Sound District Museum Board is requesting a $25,000 grant for 2013. This is a regular request and represents the direct financial support the Town of Parry Sound provides to the museum, in addition to the outstanding loan.

The Belvedere Heights Board has presented the 2013 annual levy for Belvedere Heights. The amount for 2013 is a little less than $100,000. What is interesting is the attachment that lists the weighted assessments for the various surrounding communities. Parry Sound’s ’weighted’ assessment is about $717 million and Carling’s is $775 million. The assessment for the Township of the Archipelago’s is $1.7 billion, and for Seguin almost $2.8 billion. These figures provide a good idea of where the ‘money’ really is, as far as property assessments are concerned and makes one wonder why some communities are so reticent to support facilities in other municipalities that their own residents regularly use. Oh, yeah, it’s because they like to keep their taxes low for the benefit of the seasonal residents who claim they don’t use those services.

There are no scheduled deputations this week.

Resolutions and Directions to Staff

9.1.1 – is resolution to discontinue negotiations with Creative Outdoor Advertising. This is the group that would place benches in Parry Sound with advertising on the back. I’m not sure why the discussions are being terminated but I’m in agreement. The upside to the town was on the order of $1,000 per year and would have, in m opinion, ‘junked’ up the town. If the councillors would like to see more revenue from advertising perhaps should consider placards, sort of like the Bobby Orr Community Centre, displayed at council meetings that would be seen during the council meeting replays on Cogeco. Each of the councillors could have their own brand in front of their microphone. Some councillors would be able to get more than others for their their ‘seat’ location based on their actual contributions at the council meetings.

9.2.1 – is a direction to develop a records retention policy.

9.4.2 – Ribfest is back for 2013, from July 11th to 14th. This is a resolution to lift the noise restrictions for the duration of the event.

9.5.1, 9.5.2 – these are a pair of resolutions to accept the annual water treatment and waste water reports. These reports make for rather interesting reading. I’ll probably prepare a post next week summarizing the town’s water operations.

9.5.3 – this is a resolution to accept the proposed video surveillance policy. It’s worth noting that the town regularly has video surveillance of the Municipal Office, the water booster station at Church and Isabella (the high school challenge), the dog pound, the public works yard and the transfer station. So, be on your best behaviour when in these area – you’re on candid camera. The policy and program makes sense to me.

9.6.2 – this is a resolution to accept the IBI Report recommendation for the Argyle EMS station.

By-Laws

10.2.1 – is a by-law to increase the cemetery fees, and follows last meeting’s acceptance of the fee increase by council (about 10%).

10.4.1 – is a by-law to renew, with revisions, the Now That’s Catering agreement for catering services at the Stockey Centre. The revised agreement provides the Stockey Centre with a little more flexibility with respect to food privileges for non-profit organizations.

10.4.2 – is a by-law to rezone town property for the proposed Age in Place development beside Canadore College. At this point I find the proposed rezoning non-controversial and look forward to the start of construction.

10.4.3 – is a by-law to declare surplus and put up for sale the lots carved out of the William Street Park. This is the next step of the planned disposal of town property to capture value for the properties and to spur additional development. The town is proposing to put the proceeds into a reserve.

10.4.4 – another by-law, this one to close up the Sarah and Clara Street road allowances. These are small non-existent streets off George Street and the process is part of the preparations for the sale of lots on George Street. This of course will ultimately depend on the agreement of the province as the lands proposed for rezoning and eventual development were given to the town with the provision that they were to be used for non-residential and commercial uses.

There’s a bit more on the agenda, but really not worth mentioning here. See you tonight (I will be there).

Click on the link below and it will take you to http://www.parrysights.com, where I have combined the Bridge Art photos into two videos. This will link you to Part 1.

Bridge Art – The Video (Part 1)

Parry Sound Bridge Art – 1

Council Meeting Summary – February 19, 2013

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Jo Bossart/ParrySounds.com in Parry Sound, Town Council

≈ Comments Off on Council Meeting Summary – February 19, 2013

Tags

budget, By-Law, Finance Committee, North Star, parry sound, Planning, Rezoning, Town Council

Well I missed the meeting on the 19th and these notes are based on the council meeting minutes prepared by Parry Sound staff, as well as the North Star’s news coverage. I had intended to attend but needed to catch a flight the next day and decided to leave Tuesday evening rather than chance the heavy snow promised for the next day. And as I have discovered council and staff don’t give you any special privileges for perfect attendance.

Not attending the council meeting reminds me of how much you miss by not attending the meeting or having access to the Cogeco broadcast. While the basic decisions are summarized in the minutes there is no summary of the councillors reports and only a brief summary of the the questions asked of staff. From reading the North Star, it appears that one councillor took the Public works department to task with regards to snow removal. My comment to the councillor and the public on this issue is, get used to it. It’s one of the tradeoffs of keeping taxes low. Remember the saying: “You can have any two of – service quality, service cost and service timeliness, but not all three.”? In this case cost is lowered by having reduced staff and equipment, and the quality is actually quite good. It’s the timeliness that is left to suffer. Since quality is not negotiable, it’s a safety issue, it means that we will need to pay more if we want faster service. So we just need to wait a little longer to go for that cup of coffee at Tim’s, or we’ll need to pay more. I can wait. There were also questions to staff related to credit cards and Family Day events.

Correspondence and Deputations:

4.1 – the letter from the Ontario Ministry of Education in response to council’s letter asking for provincial involvement in the Near North School Board decision to move the Grade 7 and 8 students was read and filed. It reminded the town this is a local rather than provincial issue and that everybody needs to pay attention to good communication regarding decisions. I can agree with that.

5.1, 5.2 – two deputations were made related to engineering projects and water meters. I would urge the town be cautious about installing water meters at all customer locations, I suspect it will open a can of worm with respect to usage and the corresponding charges. But this seemed to be related to replacing the existing meters with units that can be read remotely.

Agenda Highlights:

2.1.1 – a public meeting to review the proposed rezoning for the ‘Age in Place’ facility was held with no objections recorded. It will be approved sooner rather than later.

7.1 – another individual was added to the Citizen’s Finance Committee. Let’s see if we get better attendance from the committee at the open meetings of council related to budget. For that matter it would be good for the committee members to attend all meetings of council to understand the issues that council and staff have to wrestle with as they review budgets.

9.2.1 – council approved a direction to provide public notice of higher fees (10%) for cemetery services.

9.4.1 – the town’s official plan will be on the agenda for the March 19th meeting.

9.6.1 – a resolution arising from the Mayors-Chiefs-Reeves meeting held on February 6th regarding the low water levels in the Great Lakes was carried. It basically requests action be taken to study and address the problem. It’s a start. The council package contains a report of the actual meeting that is worth reviewing. I have separately posted copies of the meeting documents at the website of the Parry sound Power and sail Squadron.

9.6.2 – a resolution was passed requesting Canada Post continue the sorting of mail in Parry Sound to minimize delays in local mail delivery.

9.6.3 – a direction was carried requesting staff to investigate opportunities for greater use of the Bobby Orr Community Centre.

9.6.4 – council approved the direction that a letter be drafted to the Near North School Board with regards to the academic issues being experienced by the local elementary schools. This is a big issue in my opinion. The quality of schools is one of the first considerations for businesses and families as they consider locating to a new area. It’s not an issue of course if we are happy to have the town grow old and be serviced by the surrounding communities. This is one of the issues the town needs to consider as it increasingly positions itself as a ‘retirement’ community.

10.2.1 – a by-law to enter into an agreement with a provider to supply family assistance services for town employees was carried.

10.2.2 – another by-law, this one to increase fees for certain services provided by the town was carried. This will help close the budget gap a teeny tiny bit.

I’m sorry that I missed the meeting but it’s not clear I missed all that much. I urge town residents to attend the upcoming budget meeting this Wednesday, starting at 6:00. It’d open to the public. It’s a chance to see how ‘budget sausage’ is made.

Here’s an image I took over the Family Day weekend on the Rose Point Trail. Our local trails are a real benefit for the community. I hope council can approve the 2013 budget item that supports connecting the Rotary Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail with the Rose Point Trail in Seguin. (Despite the heavy snow machine traffic on the trail there was no problem walking along it, the operators of the machines were cautious and considerate.)

ParrySights-4290

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