Review-Mirror

Some residential wells in Newboro will be moni- tored after a leak of fur- nace oil from a storm drain has appeared to have migrated. Last month the furnace oil spill was reported to the MOECC by the munic- ipality after a resident alerted the township of the smell on the lower end of By Street. A scope of the storm drain pipe with a remote camera has indicated breaks in the pipe along its route to the bottom of By Street. On Monday the envi- ronmental contractor reported to the township field observation of test pits dug along the length of the pipe has indicated there is furnace oil but samples require further testing. "As a precaution, and given the initial indica- tions/field observations, the engineering firm will be contacting property owners along By St. and offering to test their water supply wells," said Rideau Lakes CAO Mike Dwyer who had an on-site meet- ing with the engineering firm and the MOECC last Friday. On Tuesday the engi- neering firm was to begin drilling monitoring wells to evaluate the potential contamination on the source property at 5 By Street as well as in the road allowance and near the outlet at the bottom of the hill. If any resident has a concern or question they should call the MOECC as the authority responsible at 1-800-267-0974. This week residential property owners within the counties of Lanark, Leeds Grenville, and their separated munici- palities were mailed 2016 assessment updates from MPAC. The Property Assess- ment Notices (PAN) for residential properties are being mailed up to five months earlier than in other years. A new design uses clear language and design principles, while integrating all of the statutory requirements surrounding property assessment information. It includes details about how municipalities use MPAC's values and other relevant informa- tion about Ontario's assessment system. Property owners will have 120 days from the issue date of their 2016 Property Assessment Notice to file a Request for Reconsideration (RfR) instead of the tra- ditional March 31 dead- line. Local property owners in Leeds Grenville and Lanark have until Tues- day August 9 to file their RfR. Frontenac County will have their notices mailed on May 9 and will have until Tuesday September 16 to file their RfR. "The redesigned Notice and early mailing dates will help property owners to better under- stand their assessment and resolve concerns before the final assess- ment rolls for 2017 taxa- tion are delivered to municipalities in Decem- ber," wrote MPAC Vice President Carla Nell. In October additional classes of property will have province-wide mailings including Farm, Managed Forest proper- ties on Tuesday Octo- ber11 and business prop- erties on Tuesday Octo- ber 18. Remaining resi- dential properties will be mailed province-wide October 24. On average, assessed values of residential properties across the province have increased by 4.5 per cent each year since 2012. The province-wide Assessment Update rep- resents the valuation date as of January 1, 2016 and forms the basis for phased in assessments for the 2017-2020 tax years. The Review-Mirror April 14, 2016 – 16 Work on remediating the spread of a leak of heating fuel is continuing this week with the installation of monitoring wells on the affected property ono By Street in New- boro and along the route of the storm sewer where the heating oil drained. Monitoring wells to determine potential furnace oil contamination in Newboro leak An affordable opportunity to reach visitors and local consumers throughout the area and beyond. Distributed to hotels, motels, Rideau Canal locks, liquor/beer outlets, bait & tackle shops, grocery stores, restaurants, municipal offices, tourist information outlets and The Review-Mirror. Published by The Review-Mirror in co-operation with The Westport & Rideau Lakes Chamber of Commerce For more information call Bill Ritchie at 1-800-387-0796 or 273-8000 advertising@review-mirror.com • 43 Bedford St., Box 130, Westport, ON K0G 1X0 Mirror The Review Last Chance Published by The Review-Mirror in cooperation with Westport and Rideau Lakes Chamber of Commerce Rideau Valley VISITORS' GUIDE Your Complimentary Annual Guide to Events, Attractions and Services in the Rideau Lakes Region 2015-16 Rideau Valley V I S I T O R ' S G U I D E 2016-17 •Continued from page 1 with Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017. "We have no details about this program and whether the groups who rely on capital funds from Trillium to maintain their facilities will be eligible, but it would seem very unlikely," said Clark. "It's one thing for OTF to administer this new pro- gram, but to set it up by stealing funds from vul- nerable volunteer organi- zations is unacceptable. The government has left them with nowhere to turn – there are simply no other provincial capital pro- grams out there." As a result, Clark said these organizations will be forced to spend more of their time raising funds for capital projects, taking time and money away from the invaluable com- munity initiatives these dedicated volunteers sup- port. "I'm already hearing from people about how this move will put groups in Leeds-Grenville in jeopardy. The minister needs to hear those voices and act immediately on my request to reinstate the program," insisted Clark. The MPP said the vol- unteer organizations are victims of the govern- ment's waste, scandal and mismanagement. "The fact they can't fund a new program that represents a mere 0.02 per cent of the province's bud- get without raiding Trilli- um's capital fund shows just how broke this gov- ernment is," stressed Clark. "It's a sad day in Ontario when the minister has millions for Pan Am executive bonuses and manicures for athletes, but nothing for the small groups who rely on Trilli- um." Local groups have applications in limbo Local MPAC notices arrive this week for taxpayers

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