Tag Archives: Westport

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Happy 150th Birthday Canada – Come celebrate with us

Last May, a Mayor’s Task Force was formed to plan events to celebrate Canada’s Sesquicentennial .  Any member of the public was invited to participate and the team has put together a fabulous variety of events that cover the whole year!

The birthday party  begins on January 1st with the Mayor’s New Year’s Levee at Town Hall.  Lots of food, friends and fun.  It all begins at noon and runs until 2:00 p.m.  Both MP Gord Brown and MPP Steve Clarke are joining us for the levee.  Special Surprise?  Raising our new Westport Sesquicentennial Flag.

And on Sunday, January 15, you can join Sir John A MacDonald and Lady Agnes for tea and hear what our Founder has to say about Confederation when he gives one of his historic speeches.  Meet Sir John A at the Legion between 2 and 4:00 p.m.  Free will offering.

February birthday events are being finalized and will offer lots of winter fun.

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Court Case Against Village Concluded today in Brockville Court

In 2015, the Village and Clerk were each charged in 2015 with 2 counts in relation to the operation of the waste water treatment plant in the winter season of 2013/2014.  Today, the Village pled guilty to one charge, failing to properly operate and maintain the sewage treatment plant.  All other charges against the Village and Clerk were withdrawn.

Condition 6.1 of the ECA (certificate that authorizes use of waste water treatment plant) requires the Village to ensure that the sewage treatment plant and related equipment is properly operated and maintained, which is defined to include effective performance, adequate operator staffing and training.

Part of the evidence, agreed to by both the Crown Prosecutor and Village,  read at court was, “The Village did not produce enough snowfluent in the 2013/14 season, demonstrating a lack of effective performance of the system.  After the former operator was terminated, the Town hired another operator in early 2014. No back up operator was hired.  The new operator had a pre-planned vacation prior to being hired and was therefore not available for two weeks in February, prime snowfluent generation season, and as a result, no snowfluent was produced during that period.”

Mayor and Council felt that it was in the best interest of the Village to accept the option to plead to this one charge and turn the page on that part of our history.  The fine is $10,000 and the Village has 12 months to pay.  The fine would have been substantially more if the Prosecutor hadn’t taken into consideration that the Village is replacing the aging system in 2017.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Councillor of your choice or me at 613-273-9195.

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Public meeting held on November 14 to consider proposed 2017 Water and Wastewater Rates

Thank you to those who came to the special Council and public meeting on Monday night.  Your comments were taken to heart.  I hope that the presentation on the proposed 2017 rates was helpful.

When the 2017 water and wastewater budget was being prepared by Staff, we discussed that I did not want another mid-year surprise like we had in 2016.  Consequently, they prepared a balanced budget for Council’s review and for discussion at the public meeting on Monday.

I want to give you some context on the proposed changes. The last water/waste water sewer rate increase was in 2014, which left us with the same rate in 2014, 2015 and 2016.  The 2017 proposed increase for basic water (up to 17m3) is 3.7% (additional $2.09/month).  The 2017 proposed change for basic sewer is -1.3% (decrease of $0.91/month).

Over the past few years, the extensive amount of capital invested in the water/waste water system has been largely funded by long term debt.  Moving forward, this requires an increase in the capital charges portion of the rates.  We need to budget to pay off the principal of these loans.  We cannot continue to pay for our debt by borrowing more money.

The proposed water/waste water capital charges increase from $8.79/month to $19.30 (120%), which means an overall increase of 15.7% on your monthly bill (additional $22.20).  The proposed monthly bills for the majority of users will be $164.04.  Currently they are $141.84.

We all knew that driving the bus through these 4 years would have some bumps in the road and I hope you see this as another example of getting our house in order.

If you have any questions about the proposed rate changes, our budget or our debt – please contact either Scott Bryce or Anne Marie Koiner (both at 613-273-2191) or me (613-273-9195).

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Welcome to our Park!

The path was completed in Lockwood Memorial Field and Park this week.  Come out and enjoy a stroll – or a jog – on our new 1/4 mile path.  Yes – for fitness buffs, 4 times around the path is 1 mile!  Westport in  Bloom will be placing a few of the heavy park benches beside the path so that you can take a break and enjoy the “green” in the middle of the Village.  With the tennis court and shuffleboard fences removed and those surfaces replaced with grass, the park  – well – it now looks like a park!

Next year, the cenotaph will be relocated inside the George St gates and we have applied for a grant that will allow us to build a playground near the firehall.  No tax dollars have been used for the Lockwood Memorial Field and Park regeneration – grants and donations have and will continue to cover the costs.  Many thanks to our generous donors and to the Village’s hard working staff .

Here is the view from George St.

lockwood-park-view-from-george-st