PolarFest is an exciting winter carnival offering events guaranteed to entertain the whole family. Join us at the opening ceremonies on February 1, 2019 at 6:30pm at the Marshland Centre located at 64 Hague Blvd., Lakefield. Eastlink, our Corporate Sponsor, has kindly sponsored a fireworks show brought to you by North Star Fireworks Entertainment Inc! Fireworks will begin after the kickoff at approximately 7pm. Stick around and join the Lakefield Trail on their annual Night Hike around the marsh after the fireworks. When the hike is over join us back at the beach for hot apple cider and a beach bonfire!

Also taking place on Friday is Youth Shinny and the Gun’s and Hoses Charity Hockey Game.

The fun continues on Saturday February 2nd with more events:

• Free Pancake Breakfast at Causeway Christian Assembly

• Ice sculpture competition/awards ceremony in Lakefield

• Chainsaw ice carving by the Ice People in Bridgenorth

• Little chippers – coloured ice blocks for kids to make their own sculptures!

• Lakefield Library Lego Play

• 5 km Polar Run in Lakefield

• RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon Rides (weather dependant with no wind) Isabel Morris Park

• Nordic Day Skate at the Ontario Speed Skating Oval in Lakefield

• Candle light skate at the Ontario Speed Skating Oval in Lakefield

• Free Public Skating at the Lakefield Arena sponsored by Craftworks at the Barn

• Polar Paddle on Queen Street in Lakefield, an event that can’t be missed!

• Horse drawn sleigh rides in Ennismore hosted by the Ennismore Optimist Club

• Bridgenorth United Church Spaghetti Dinner and Entertainment

Sunday February 3rd is the Annual Polar Plunge hosted by B.E.L. Rotary Club. Watch people who raised money for local charities plunge into the frigid waters! While you are there hop on the RE/MAX hot air balloon and be sure to check out the antique and vintage snowmobile display. Before the plunge starts try your hand at lake curling, stones available at plunge site from 12-2pm, or watch the outdoor IP exhibition game EMHA vs LDMHA at 12pm.  Don’t forget to stop by the Ennismore Community Centre and enjoy free public skating at 1pm sponsored by Brad Sinclair of Royal LePage.

Last but not least don’t forget to build a snowman for PolarFest weekend! Enter the PolarFest Snowman Challenge by uploading your picture to Facebook for a chance to win prizes (see website for more details).

A big thank you to all of our volunteers and sponsors! Eastlink, Lakeridge Property, Precision Sunrooms, Commercial Press and Kawartha Chamber of Commerce & Tourism!

There are so many reasons for you to come chill with us for PolarFest 2019! Like us on Facebook and check out our website www.polarfest.ca

by Terry McQuitty

Council remuneration has been a hot topic recently since the County of Peterborough raised the compensation packages for council members earlier this month. The Township of Douro-Dummer has also been in the process of reviewing their council pay structure. This being the case on December 20, 2018 council received a report which outlined council remuneration.

As per legeslation, every time council looks at adjusting their remuneration packages a public meeting must be held. This meeting was held during the regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday evening. There were no questions or concerns raised by the gallery.

The December 20 report was brought back to council Tuesday evening with recommendations to adjust the pay scale.

The report examined remuneration packages of other townships within the County of Peterborough and discovered that members of Douro-Dummer council were paid below average. The discrepancy is as follows:

Mayor   $4,441

Deputy Mayor $1,399

Councillor  $528

All of these calculations are based on the December 1, 2018 remuneration which includes the annual 2 per cent increment.

Staff was also asked to take in to consideration the elimination of the one third tax exemption to their pay package which came in to effect on January 1 of this year.

The report recommended that remuneration packages be adjusted. The new formula will compensate for the lost tax break as well as include a raise to bring Douro-Dummer councillors closer to their peers on the pay scale. The recommended formula is shown below:

Mayor- $22,190 + $2,219 + $4,441= $28,850

Deputy Mayor- $19,484 + $1,949 + $1,399= $22,832

Councillor- $17,860 + $1,786 + $528= $20,174

The Mayor saw a wage decrease on the county level and will now receive $79,450 per anum as a base salary while the Deputy Mayor received a 37 per cent increase on county council which sets his new wage at $48,671 per anum.

Councillor Tom Watt Moved the recommendation and council passed the pay raise unanimously.

Also on the agenda for Tuesday evening was volunteer firefighters pay. Fire Chief Chuck Pederson presented a report to council outlining the present pay structure and recommending a comprehensive structure moving forward.

Pederson pointed out that the last firefighter wage report was presented in 2015. At that point wages had been static for six years, thus an 11 per cent increase was added to the pay and a two per cent increase was tagged on for the remainder of council’s term.

Pederson recently did a county wide comparison of volunteer firefighters wages. Pederson said that of the six municipalities that replied, not all were a good comparison. There were differences in mileage pay, training rate different than response rate, years of service, honorariums and so on.

In the near future the Douro-Dummer fire department plans to table a new E&R by-law that will include a department organizational chart where they will look at all of our ranks as well as honorariums, wages, mileage, in house training, outside training, and other work assignments at that time.

The recommendation tabled Tuesday eveing asked that a two per cent increase be added annually to volunteer firefighters pay for the remainder of this council term. Pederson pointed out that the gradual two per cent increase will eliminate a larger pay increase in the future.