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County Report
Reported by Doug Hutton

Reeve, Jim Whelan, discussed the need to implement Development Charges at the county level. The key reason for this is that studies have
identified that $70 million will be required in the next 10 years to repair and build roads throughout the county. The cost is estimated to be $100 million over the next 20 years. Mr. Whelan fells that development charges, as long as they were used to reduce assessments, would relieve much of the tax burden for ratepayers. The charges would not have a major impact in North Kawartha because most of the development is occurring in the southern part of the county.

Councilor-at-Large, Arnie Brown would like to see commercial development
charges treated differently than residential charges to minimize the impact on the cost of new residences.

Mr. Whelan announced that Deputy Reeve, Barry Rand is on the Waste
Committee at the council. This committee is considering a new composting
program as well as trucks that can pick up waste and recycle materials
on private roads. Composting is still going to be encouraged on private
properties because the cost of processing large amounts of compost is
significant. Mr. Whelan stated that composting has to be done to meet
the government’s demands for 60% recycling. The provincial government is
not providing any funding to cover the additional costs.

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Visit from the GPAEDC

Council received a presentation from Andy Mitchell, President and CEO, and Ann-Marie Kelleher, Manager, Rural Economic Development, both from the Greater Peterborough Area Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Mitchell said that he view the GPAEDC as a service organization with three approaches;

Economic development should be approached on a regional basis but there are global issues to consider as well. A meeting is planned with township CAO’s to discuss township issues.
Success in economic development is achieved when both the rural and urban sectors are strengthened.
Economic Development should grow from “the bottom up” building on community requirements and goals.

The GPAEDC is launching an aggressive work plan for 2007 utilizing staff to deal with marketing and tourism development. The Business Retention and Expansion program will continue in 2007. Although there are business-education sessions held in Peterborough, Mr. Mitchell stated that sessions will be held in remote areas as well.

Community Development Committee

Sandy Zimmerman and Helen Osborne advised council of a new public committee that is considering a number of possible items that would improve the community. This committee is not focused solely on economic activities, although economic benefits could arise from the committee’s work. Ms. Zimmerman said that there are some young people involved and some businesses are getting involved as well. Council members encouraged the committee representatives to continue their work and to let them know if there was any way they could consider assisting.

Application for Government Funding

Craig Watson, Roads Supervisor, discussed applying for the Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative(RIII) grant from the provincial government. Councilor-at-Large, Arnie Brown, was initially opposed to applying for the grant to pave Anstruther Lake road the location of the waste site. In the past, funding was on a shared basis amongst the federal, provincial and township government levels. Mr. Brown, and other members of council are adamantly opposed to spending any township funds on the portion of Anstruther Lake Road leading to the North Kawartha Signature Site Park. Council feels that the provincial government should be paying to support the park, but Mr. Brown said “ we all know that they have no money for the park.” Reeve, Jim Whelan, pointed out that this funding is different because the province pays a full 100 percent of the cost. Council instructed Mr. Watson to apply for the full amount (approximately $3.2 million) to pave the entire road to the marina. Because the RIII grant covers a number of categories, North Kawartha is considering applying for a new community centre as well.

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	County Report, Visit from the GPAEDC Click on picture for larger version