While the Township of Selwyn saw extensive damage from the March 2025 ice storm, their insurance will not pay for any of the cost associated with the storm except for that incurred at the Lakefield Beach Playground.
ouncil meeting, a report was presented by Bryden Erdmann, Emergency & Risk Management Advisor which stated that the province has created a one-time, application based funding program to help municipalities with costs associated with the ice storm earlier this year.
nce announced the launch of the Municipal Ice Storm Assistance (MISA) program due to the high demands of assistance requested. Normally, in the case of natural disasters, municipalities would be able to apply to the Municipal Disaster Recovery Assistance (MDRA) program. Due to the sheer amount of damage that was felt across Ontario in March, a specific fund was set up for the Ice Storm recovery through the province.
Erdmann told council that the Township’s insurance policies do not provide coverage for emergency response and tree clean-up costs related to the ice storm. However, coverage has been approved for a complete replacement of the Lakefield Beach Playground Equipment at a value of $81,043.60, less applicable taxes and policy deductible.
World renowned Canadian Author Jane Urquhart signs a copy of her book In Winter I Get Up at Night for a fan during the Lakefield Literary Festival hosted at the Lakefield College School over the weekend. The festival saw a total of nine exceptional and award winning Canadian authors take the stage at the Bryan Jones Theatre for moderated discussions about their works. After each event, authors were available for books signings. The festival also saw a free children tent with stellar children authors and a ticketed Meet the Author Reception.
North Kawartha Township is investigating the logistics of creating a new by-law that would allow residents to legally keep backyard chickens and possibly other fowl such as ducks in residential areas.
A report from Laura Stone, planning consultant, was presented to council on Tuesday July 15 that recommended council direct planning staff to investigate implementing a provision to permit backyard chickens for Residential, Rural and Rural Residential properties.
Stone told council that the Building and Planning
Departments have been made aware that many ratepayers are interested in keeping chickens within residential areas. She went on the say this particular issue is pressing, given the increased need for food security within the township.
A report from Laura Stone, planning consultant, was presented to council on Tuesday July 15 that recommended council direct planning staff to investigate implementing a provision to permit backyard chickens for Residential, Rural and Rural Residential properties.
North Kawartha will be accepting storm debris from the March Ice Storm free of charge until mid-September.
Gary Geraldi, director of parks and recreation and waste management presented a report to council requesting direction on the closing date for free Ice Storm debris drop off at the transfer stations within the township.
His report stated that The March 2025 Ice Storm was a freezing rain event that coated North Kawartha and parts of Ontario in thick layers of ice, downing branches, trees, hydro lines, and telephone lines with devastating effects.
He said that to assist residents with the clean-up of downed trees and branches, the township immediately began to accept all storm debris free of charge at both the Anstruther and Haultain Transfer Stations.
Since March, North Kawartha has continued to offer this service free of charge to provided time for full-time and seasonal residents to clean-up their properties.
This short documentary is a portrait of a tiny town, Lakefield, Ontario, and its independent weekly, the Herald. Across North America, newspapers are dying, but in Lakefield, Terry McQuitty, the town paper’s publisher, carries on a rich, 150-year-old tradition. Set to the pace of small-town life, Unheralded is a testament to the vital role newspapers can still play, and the close bond between reporter and reader.
