By Angelica Ingram
April 26 2016
The following are brief reports of items discussed at the April 25 meeting of the Dysart et al council.
The Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce is looking at getting the summer season started with a fun event to be held in Head Lake Park in Wednesday June 22.
Dubbed the Chamber Summer Kick-off the event is being proposed to take place from 3 to 7 p.m. and will include outdoor games such as horseshoes bocce ball tug-of-war and more.
The organization is requesting use of the tennis and basketball courts (located off Park Street) for the event which will also include music and refreshments such as wine and beer according to a letter sent to council by the chamber.
“We feel this will be a great way to kick off the summer for local businesses as it will be the last time to gather network and have fun before the summer months” wrote Lauren Forbes committee chairwoman in a letter to council.
The organization will be applying for a liquor licence special occasions permit park use agreement and health unit approval before moving forward.
The event will be open to all but specifically geared to Chamber members. There will be a cost per person to attend.
Council supported the application for a special occasion permit.
Budget passed
The 2016/2017 budget for Dysart et al has been approved resulting in a 3.6 per cent tax increase.
Councillors took a look at a revised budget provided by treasurer Barbara Swannell which included some adjustments such as $13000 removed from the roads department for slurry seal to be done on a few roads which were deemed not a high priority at this time.
Another adjustment was the addition of a new dishwasher for the West Guilford Community Centre and benches for the Haliburton Lake area.
“At the end of the day the capital expenditures have increased by $229000 and the reserves have decreased by $61900” said Swannell.
The treasurer said ratepayers are looking at an increase of $21.73 per $100000 of assessment for residential properties $42.41 per $100000 of assessment for commercial properties and $49.36 per $100000 of assessment for industrial properties.
New location for annual event
Popular event Katie’s Run for Epilepsy will be relocated into Haliburton Village this summer.
The fundraiser which in the past has been held at Sir Sam’s Ski/Ride will be taking place on Saturday July 9 at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School said Dysart recreation coordinator Andrea Mueller.
The change in location is to offer participants terrain that isn’t as challenging.
Skate park skates on
Although the Junction Skate Park fundraising committee was not successful in obtaining an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant the group is continuing on with its fundraising efforts said Mueller.
The recreation coordinator said discussions around doing a toll collection on the May long-weekend had been brought forth.
Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey suggested going to the traffic lights near the high school to catch more people.
Councillor Susan Norcross brought up the concern of having too many tolls in town and whether this is something council should be mindful of.
Deputy-reeve Andrea Roberts agreed saying the committee would be better off looking for other grant opportunities which typically provide larger amounts of money than one-day fundraisers.
Councillor Walt McKechnie said it was important that council still support this initiative as youth are important.
