Review-Mirror

The Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC), at its annual inaugural meeting held last week in Kingston, elected Warden Robin Jones as the 2018 Chair and Warden Jennifer Mur- phy as the 2018 Vice- Chair. Robin Jones is the War- den of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, and the Mayor of the Vil- lage of Westport. Murphy is the Warden of the County of Renfrew, and Mayor of the Town- ship of Bonnechere Valley. The role of the Chair and Vice-Chair, elected on an annual basis, is to pro- vide the main point of focus and contact for the Caucus and ensure that the established key priorities move forward. "I am honoured to chair the Eastern Ontario War- dens' Caucus in 2018, alongside my colleagues, and to advocate for this year's priorities in support of the 750,000 property taxpayers across rural Eastern Ontario," said Jones, elected as the EOWC's first female chair since its incorporation in 2008. "As we are aware, 2018 is a critical year for both the Province of Ontario and the municipal sector, with elections scheduled for both levels of govern- ment. That being said, the EOWC has restructured its focus and made its priori- ties very clear, and intends to send a loud and clear message to its partners at Queen's Park." Two priorities were established for the Caucus in the coming year. "For this critical elec- tion year, the EOWC has kept its focus simple and identified the two most important projects for Eastern Ontario. The rest of the year – and specifi- cally the next few months – will be spent on advocat- ing at the provincial and federal government levels for multi-stakeholder solutions to these propos- als," said Jones. The two priorities are: •Building the EORN Cellular and Public Safety Broadband Network: The EOWC will continue to support the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) on its $299-mil- lion business case to the Provincial and Federal governments, which would close the many cel- lular network gaps, boost mobile broadband service across Eastern Ontario, and increase public safety for residents and first responders during emer- gencies. •Implementing the Eastern Ontario Economic Development Strategy: The EOWC will continue to support the Eastern Ontario Leadership Coun- cil (EOLC) in its ongoing implementation of the rec- ommendations outlined in Thursday, January 18, 2018 Serving North Leeds and area since 1893 Vol. 127, No. 2 $1incl. tax By Margaret Brand The Review-Mirror A renewed asset man- agement plan after appli- cation of a new set of val- ues has added $43 million in assets from the original $24 million plan for Rideau Lakes. Councillors were given the new $67 million asset management plan (AMP) at a committee meeting on Monday. The municipality's pre- vious plan did not provide sufficient detail to satisfy new standards the province is developing which need to be in place by mid-2018. New provincial regula- tions could obligate municipalities to add their assets' amortizations costs to each year's budget, which according to the township's plan could be an average of $3.5 million per year. "At some point in time it's probably going to be mandatory. I have no doubt. Municipalities can't afford it, there has been too much download- ing," said Mayor Ron Hol- man. Annual capital funding, excluding any improve- ments above the existing infrastructure would bring a shortfall of $1.5 million per year to the municipali- ty, a potential 28.5 per cent tax increase if all the money was obtained through taxation. Treasurer Cynthia Laprade noted the plan was in need of further refinement with more examination of the replacement cost of the township's buildings. Municipalities got some good news over the holidays when the Minis- ter of Infrastructure announced a six-year phase in period of the new Adding asset replacement to the property tax bill would see rates jump considerably Updated review sees Rideau Lakes' municipal asset value jump 280 per cent 75 units from 6'x6' to 12'x36' Easy year round access right in Westport 75 units from 6'x6' to 12'x36' Easy year round access right in Westport 75 units from 6'x6' to 12'x36' Easy year round access right in Westport 75 units from 6'x6' to 12'x36' Easy year round access right in Westport Soho's Self Storage Soho's Self Storage Soho's Self Storage Soho's Self Storage Soho's Self Storage 75 units from 6'x6' to 12'x36' Easy year round access right in Westport 43 Bedford St., Westport 613-273-8848 soho@rideau.net Mirror The Review Jones elected chair of Eastern Ontario Warden's Caucus Canada Post Contract No. 40021501 Ministiry of Natural Resourses staff Removed a boom at the dam in Delta to help relieve expected higher water levels last week. •Continued on page 3 •Continued on page 3 January Special NO PAYMENTS FOR 6 MONTHS... 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