CARLETON PLACE – Carleton Place council will partner with an organization to provide more social and recreational programming for seniors.

On Tuesday evening (March 26) council approved a plan to partner with the Mills Community Support Corporation (MCSC) to provide social and recreational programming for seniors in the former train station building. The town will be responsible for capital, operating and maintenance expenses, while MCSC will oversee programming and volunteer coordination.

Funding for programming will come in the form of an affordable annual membership fee payable through the Recreation and Culture Department as well as a per activity fee for each activity attended.  A survey will be compiled and sent out in late April/early May as a means of gauging programs of interest which can be used to develop a programming schedule. A membership drive and call for volunteers will be advertised this summer.  Council and MCSC anticipate a September grand opening.

 The following By-laws were read and passed:

By-law 27-2019 – To Exempt Certain Lands from Part Lot Control – 63 and 65 Napoleon Street

By-law 28-2019 – To Remove One Foot Reserves, to Dedicate Reserves as a Public Highway, Stokes Drive, Rathwell Street and Pye Way and to Repeal By-law 110-2018

By-law 29-2019 – To Amend By-law 58-2018, Town’s Flag Policy to accommodate a half mast lowering to recognize the passing of former Citizens of the Year and to permit the lowering of the flag at other occasions as determined by the Mayor in consultation with the Chief Administrative Officer

By-law 30-2019 – To Exempt from Taxation Land Owned by the Navy League, Royal Canadian Legion and the Army Navy and Air Force related to the Municipal share only of the tax bill

 Mayor Douglas Black was happy to announce that the town is the recipient of a couple of grants. The first is a one-time payment of $613,457 from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to be used towards modernizing service delivery and reduce future costs through investments in projects such as service delivery reviews, development of shared services agreements and capital investments.  The Town is also the recipient of a one-time payment of $312,426 as a result of the federal government’s commitment to a one-time doubling of Gas Tax Funds.  This amount is equivalent to the town’s 2018 funding under this program. Council will be deciding in the near future how to utilize these funds in the best interest of the Corporation and the community.

More good news was received in relation to the town’s Central Bridge Project. The town applied for funding under the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) Top-up Program in 2018. While we were notified by the Province of Ontario that the Top-Up Program was cancelled, we were advised that our application for the Central Bridge project was still reviewed and evaluated based on the criteria outlined in the Top-Up program’s guidelines.   

As a result of our project’s evaluation, the town has been selected to apply under an accelerated stream under a new, recently announced Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) – Rural and Northern stream dedicated to road and bridge projects for municipalities under a population of 100,000.  

Under the former OCIF Top-up Fund, the Town would have been eligible for $881,480 or 16.67 per cent funding of a $5,287,340 plus HST valued project whereas now, the Town has the potential under the new Rural and Northern stream to apply for up to $5,000,000 based on a 50 per cent federal contribution, 33.33 per cent provincial contribution and 16.67 per cent town contribution. A successful application under the Rural and Northern stream would be a monumental shift in how this critical infrastructure project in our community is funded. Staff will ensure an application is submitted before the April 15, deadline under this program.