Review-Mirror

Justin Martin President 613-530-0773 RR 2 Westport, ON K0G 1X0 jtmartin@kingston.net 4 Septic Systems 4 Excavating 4 Landscaping 4 Road Work 4 Rock Excavating 4 Trucking 4 Residential & Commercial Snow Plowing & Sanding 4 Damp Proofing LTD. Mirror The Review Thursday, January 28, 2016 Serving North Leeds and area since 1893 Vol. 125, No. 4 $1incl. tax Canada Post Contract No. 40021501 •Continued on page 3 NEW MOVIE RELEASES at the Old 'n' New General Store and Sandwich Shack Groceries, Snacks, Gifts, Antiques Hwy. 15 & Cty Rd. 42, Crosby 613-540-1812 Westport Village Pharmacy 3 Church St., Westport, ON 613-273-2922 westportvillagepharmacy@gmail.com Mon.-Fri.: 9-6 • Sat. & Sun.: 10-4 Even MODEST WEIGHT LOSS Can Have an Enormous Impact on Your Health Join us for an OPEN HOUSE AND PRODUCT TASTING Stop in and see us for more information. www.idealprotein.com The Township of Rideau Lakes has the commitment of the Village of Westport to undertake a boundary adjustment to bring the wastewater treat- ment plant within village's territory. This week the township expressed its preference for the two municipalities to undertake the process to seek approval from the Minister by the end of 2017. Tuesday's letter is part of a correspondence between the two munici- palities that began January 5 with Rideau Lakes response to a final open house on the village's environmental assessment of its proposed wastewater treatment system. The Village of Westport formulated their response last week to the letter demanding they annex the property and commit to that testing. The village has started gathering the necessary informartion to embark on an annexation of the prop- erty. Where those bound- aries might end up remains to be seen as Westport council briefly discussed just how much property might be includ- ed in the transfer. If the village wants to expand its sewage treat- ment capacity much beyond what they have now, they will need more land. Former AECOM engi- neer Cameron Smith told Council, that although the proposed filter bed system and tackling sump pumps and other infiltration could increase the MOE's approved capacity, if the village is going to have real growth, they were going to have to start shopping for property. Two subdivisions – one with all the approvals already in place – and at least two other smaller developments may hang in the balance. The township asked for multilevel wells for moni- toring, surface water mon- itoring and full spectrum monitoring of local private ground water. The letter warned the village that a portion of the facility is under the Planning Act Authority of the Township. The village contacted the MOE over the town- ship's concerns and they shouldn't affect the Envi- ronmental Assessment submitted in Decmber. Westport is expecting an MOE response on that any time. The township concerns would be dealt with at the detailed design phase, still to come later this year. "Every one of the tech- nical issues is further down the road. "The decisions are MOE decisions at the detailed design stage," said Westport Mayor Robin Jones. Township taxes to go up over 9% By Margaret Brand The Review-Mirror Township of Rideau Lakes councilors will be determining a 2016 bud- get next Monday which could bring an overall tax increase of just under five per cent. At a meeting last week Mayor Ron Holman pro- posed a meeting to decide on an overall tax rate which would be 4.9 in 2016 and 1 per cent in 2017. The township tax rate would rise 9.4 per cent in 2016. That meeting's discus- sion of a list of potential savings did little to free additional funds for addi- tional maintenance of existing hard surface roads or progress in com- pleting the last kilometers of an ongoing program of new hard surfacing. Tax rate increases last year and this year have been largely due to pro- jected increases in OPP costs of almost $700,000 over two years. Those increases, along with a projected $250,000 for the Delta landfill site closure have left the town- ship without enough capi- tal in 2016 to fulfill its obligations for renewal under its asset manage- ment plan. By Margaret Brand The Review-Mirror Portland Outdoors vol- unteers were able to reap the benefits of weeks of planning last weekend after cold temperatures helped make the ice- dependent Skate the Lake event a reality. While the ice was in excellent condition this year there weren't as many speed skating competitors to enjoy Portland's one kilometer oval. Two weeks ago there was still open water on the Big Rideau and still doubts in some people's minds that the weather would cooperate to allow the volunteer team to suc- ceed in mounting this year's international speed skating event. Race registrar Ken Maxwell thinks the pre- race weather got people planning ahead to attend other races, including races which had been post- poned to last weekend. Bringing up the rear: This happy group finished the gruelling 50k hand in hand with the traditional red lantern. Skate the Lake defies Mother Nature with perfect weekend •Continued on back page Westport may annex chunk of township property •Continued on page 3 Call 359-5660 53 Main St., Elgin duncan s TV & APPLIANCES Range •Self Clean •Hidden Bake Element •Express-Select® Controls Regular 1099.00 Model #CGEF3030PW $ 899 00 Refrigerator •Custom Flex Door™ •Bright LED Lighting •Spillsafe® Shelves Regular 1199.00 Model #FGTR1845QP $ 999 00 Continuing a 30 year tradition serving North Leeds - Delivery & Set Up Available

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