HEDDY SOROUR
Municipal service fee changes and increases
Fees for services and registrations at the municipality are changing.
“We get together as staff every year and review our fees to make sure that they’re covering the costs of providing the service,” explained Trisa McConkey, town treasurer.
Some are going up, some are remaining the same and overall they’ve been streamlined to make it clearer for customers and easier to administer once fees move online.
“It’s nice to see the simplification when things are brought down to one easy price,” said Dena Comley, councillor at the October 8 Committee of the Whole.
Changes that are being recommended include dog tags at a flat $25 fee for one year from date of purchase, that’s a five dollar increase for those who purchase their tags on time but a reduction for those that delay as the town does away with the graduated fee scale. Cat tags for spayed or neutered cats will increase from $20 to $25 for the life of the cat. The non spayed or neutered cat fee will stay the same at $70. Replacement tags will double to $6 to cover the rising cost of purchasing and mailing them. Reprinting of Tax bills will remain at $25 but now water and sewer bill reprints will also incur a $25 fee in part to encourage residents to use the self serve option on the town’s website.
A new $250 fee for Legal Demand Letters is being introduced and for businesses the Tax Registration fee is jumping from $2000 to $2,500.
School Parking
The number of restricted 15 minute parking spots in front of St. Mary’s Catholic High School on Hawthorne Avenue will drop from four to two at the school’s request. The town’s by law will also be updated to reflect the change as it is currently out of date.
Library
While the library has it’s own operating budget, all building related improvements and maintenance are still paid for my the town since it owns the building. Last year the town replaced two air handling units as well as a roof top unit at a little under $70,000 with TL Mechanics who provided the lowest bid.
This year staff are planning to replace a third air handling unit, but this one is more challenging.
“When staff met with TL Mechanics to review the scope of work, we identified that a six ton cooling coil, normally located in the furnace was located in the ceiling and that a large portion of the ceiling would need to be removed to complete the work,” Ross Rankin, property and project manager told committee.
The cost would have been over $50,000 which led staff to seek other options. In the end staff are recommending installing a new furnace with a three ton cooling coil and a three ton ductless split unit at a cost of a little more than $29,000. The town’s budget for the work in 2024 was for $24,500 and the difference can be absorbed out of the town’s year end surplus or from the asset management reserve according to Rankin.
Funding application
The Federal Government’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program fund has been extended, and staff are recommending applying for it.
“Retrofits up to $9,999,999 can be funded through this program up to 80 percent,” explained Ross Rankin, property and project manager in his report to committee.
The funding program is merit based according to Rankin, and applications are scored on three factors: Green House Gas emission reductions, Accessibility and Climate resiliency.
Staff are recommending applying to the fund to cover the cost of a number of Green House Gas emission reduction components including a new 300 kWh solar panel, LED lighting, refrigerator plant upgrades, new heat pumps, and a building automation system at the arena. For the accessibility component staff are applying for a new elevator at the arena.
“The elevator in place right now doesn’t meet accessibility standards,” explained Rankin.
And on the climate resiliency factor, staff are applying for a back-up generator. If successful the town would be able to reduce its emissions by more than 40 percent.
