Lakefield Herald Special Report

NK Community Centre ice needed earlier this year

by Doug Hutton

North Kawartha Township Director of Parks and Recreation Gary Geraldi, at council’s February 5 meeting, recommended that council approve installing the ice on August 17 rather than August 26.

He explained that the Ivy Hockey Academy has committed to 60 hours of scheduled ice time from August 19 to 30 and the Vaughan Kings hockey team has scheduled an additional 22 hours between August 17 and August 22.

The Vaughan Kings also contracted for 15 student and two adult memberships at the fitness centre during this time period.

Council approved the early start for the ice surface because the bookings will support the extra overhead costs and provide an economic benefit to the community.

New Fitness Centre Membership Packages

Council approved two new membership packages for the Fitness Centre.

Director of Parks and Recreation Gary Geraldi explained that the new packages will meet some of the requests from the public.

The two packages are; (1) a Weekend Membership for weekends only but for the entire year and, (2) a One week (seven day) membership to complement the current monthly pass and daily passes.

He also mentioned that last year’s special summer packages are going to be offered again this year. These included the full membership from July 2/13 to Sept. 2/13 and the Summer Weekend Special for July and August.

Electronics Recycling at Haultain

Director of Parks and Recreation Gary Geraldi discussed the possibility of providing a bin at Haultain to accept electronic items from June 2 to September 2.

This service is provided all year at the Anstruther site.

He explained that there is no additional cost and that the Township gets an 80 per cent share of the profits from the recycled material.

There is no additional staffing required and the bin would provide a valuable service for citizens in the southern part of the Township. Council approved the proposal.

Deputy Mayor Barry Rand asked about the possibility of providing bins for construction materials.

CAO Shannon Hunter advised council that it is unlikely that there is enough space, and that a change to the Certificate of Approval from the Ministry of the Environment would be required. Any change to the Certificate requires 18 to 24 months.

Police Services Board

Deputy Mayor Barry Rand reviewed the on-going debate about police services costing.

He stated that he is concerned that the Mayor’s Coalition Newsletter stated, incorrectly, that North Kawartha was one of the Townships that agreed with the policing-costing model based on the number of homes and businesses in a Township.

Mr. Rand and Mayor Whelan have been very outspoken promoting the price for policing should be based on the number of calls. In North Kawartha, this is the current system and is equal to $151 per household.

If an average-cost based on the number of residents was to be adopted, North Kawartha would pay $250 per household.

Council agreed to continue to support the user-pay system and demanded a retraction from the Mayor’s Coalition Newsletter and the newsletter’s website, with information being sent to several political officials.

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