Council News

February 15, 2012 Edition COUNTY COUNCIL APPROVED 2012 BUDGET

County Council—Northumberland County Council approved its 2012 Budget and a 10-year long-term financial plan at their February 15th meeting. The Budget and 10 year financial plan are based on an annual levy increase of 2.5% after assessment growth, as per direction from County Council as part of the planning process. The County’s total capital and operating requirement is $91.4M. This increase is less than the annual rate of inflation of 2.9% (as reported by Statistics Canada for the month of November, 2011).

The budget and long term financial plan are aligned with Northumberland County’s Strategic Plan (2011 – 2014), approved by County Council on December 14, 2011. The strategic plan will ensure that Northumberland has the focus and resources to successfully meet challenges, leverage new opportunities and effectively serve its residents in the future by maximizing its available resources and minimizing costs. It defines a path for achieving goals and identifying where resources should be invested going forward to deliver the best long-term value to County constituents, identifying four key focus areas:

Economic Renewal and Prosperity

Sustainable Infrastructure and Services

Supportive Communities

Being an Employer of Choice

The budget funds the continuation of all current programs and services and identifies the financial resources to fund initiatives contained in its

strategic plan including efforts to foster economic renewal and prosperity. County Departments are funded through multiple sources.

The proposed $43.3M levy is split across the County operating departments as follows:

Transportation: 31% of levy directed to Transportation

Community and Social Services including the Food 4 All warehouse: 25%

Emergency Medical Services: 13%

Waste Division: 8%

Golden Plough Lodge: 8%

Required payments to Health Unit and Municipal Property Assessment Corporation: 8%

Economic Development, Tourism, the County Forest, Emergency Planning and Health and Safety: 7%

In 2012, approximately 40% of operating costs will be spent on staffing because many County services are labour intensive (24/7 operations) e.g. long term care and ambulance services. About 25% of the County’s operating budget is spent on Social Services programs to help those at risk, with a significant portion of these costs funded directly by the Province. Approximately 16% of operating costs are spent on contract services including engineering, auditing, legal, repairs and maintenance and other specialized services.

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TRENT RIVER ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (EA)

STEERING COMMITTEE County Council—At the February 15th Session, County Council supported the recommendation of Trent Hills and County staff for the composition of the EA Steer Committee—subject to approval by the Trent Hills Municipal Council. The staff from Trent Hills and the County met to jointly develop proposals for the membership of the Steering Committee which will guide the completion of the EA Study. Because of the critical importance of this decision to the success of the EA study Warden Gil Brocanier, Mayor Hector Macmillan and Councillor Mark Lovshin participated in the final meeting. Trent Hills and County officials considered a range of alternative Steering Committee models. Some of the key considerations in this de-cision were:-

ensuring the various stakeholder concerns would be heard, considered, studied in a timely manner and report on,

enhancing trust in the community and support for the Study findings and recommendations,

having an efficient process so that a conclusion could be reached in 18 months or less if possi-ble,

developing final recommendations which can be supported by both Trent Hills and County Councils,

if another corridor option emerges as a potential preferred solution, being able to add a stake-holder representative from that area to the Steering Committee so that the process is fair to all.

Recommended Alternative:

The recommended alternative is basically the same committee composition as existed in the Bridge Fea-sibility Study, the only changes reflecting personnel changes in the past year.

1. Mayor, Trent Hills Hector Macmillan

2. Councillor, Trent Hills appointed by Council

3. Warden, Northumberland County Gil Brocanier

4. County Councillor to be appointed

5. Trent Hills CAO Mike Rutter

6. Trent Hills staff to be appointed

7. Trent Hills Planner Jim Peters

8. County CAO Bill Pyatt

9. County Director, Transportation & Waste Mo Pannu

10. County Project Engineer Christina Harvey

11. Campbellford DBIA appointed by DBIA

12. Campbellford Chamber of Commerce appointed by Chamber of Commerce

13. Second Street Residents’ Association appointed by SSRA

14. Trent Hills Citizen-at-Large appointed by Trent Hills Council

The decision-making model would be developed by the Steering Committee and could be the same as that of the former Bridge Feasibility Study Committee or some variation. The terms of reference for the Steering Committee including the decision making model will go to both Councils for approval.

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COUNCIL SUPPORTS ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF POLICE SERVICE BOARDS’ WHITE PAPER ON UNPAID POA FINES

County Council at the February 15th Session endorsed the recommendations in the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards’ White Paper regarding unpaid Provincial Offences Act (POA) fines. Included in the recommendations are some stronger, meaningful penalties such as driver license suspension and license plate suspension, the power to garnish federal income tax returns. The recommendations also cover off possible discounts for early fine payments as an incentive, more flexible payment options with clear processes making it simple and easy for payees. Unpaid POA fines are a billion-dollar problem, and it is growing. The disregard for complying with court orders undermines the justice system, erodes public safety and denies municipalities and the provincial government of much-needed revenue.

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LONG TERM WASTE MANAGEMENT MASTER PLAN

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

County Council—County Council supported the Waste Services Division’s proposal to establish an Advisory Committee for the Long Term Waste Management Master Plan as a means of soliciting feedback and input for a number of different organizations and interest groups, The County of Northumberland is embarking on the development of a Long Term Waste management Plan (LTWMMP) which will help to guide County Council and staff in determining how to improve waste diversion efforts and manage residual waste in the long-term, knowing that the County’s landfill capacity is finite and could be exhausted as early as 2016. Because of the significant social and economic impacts long-term waste management solutions could have on the residents and businesses of the County, the Waste Services Division will be seeking the public’s feedback and buy-in into the development of this LTWMMP. Through discussions between County Staff and the Waste Services Division Coordinators, and consultation with the area municipality CAOs, the terms of reference for the Advisory Committee was developed, including the proposed membership. The proposed membership is listed below:-

Members Number of Representatives

Northumberland County Council 1

Lower-Tier Municipal Councillors

(or designated representatives)

7

Not-for-profit Environmental Group 1

Northumberland Youth Council 1

Local Home Builders Association 1

Local Business Improvement Association 1

Local Chamber of Commerce 1

Local Waste Management Company 1

Local Industrial Sector 1

Local Agriculture Sector 1

Local Tourism Sector 1

Alderville First Nations 1

Ministry of the Environment 1

Members from the Public at Large

(to be appointed by County Council)

2

Total 21

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EASTERN ONTARIO REGIONAL NETWORK (EORN)

County Council—February 15th—Mr. Jim Pine, CAO of Hastings County, presented County Council with an update on the Eastern Ontario Regional Network. The following slides were part of Mr. Pine’s presentation to Council

Our Broadband Problem:

• 300,000 people either not connected or poorly connected

• 37% of residences & businesses have some connectivity

• Sparsely populated region• Tough terrain• Pricing disadvantage• Not enough speed and

capacity where there is connectivity

Building it right –For today & tomorrow

• Demand for bandwidth is exploding

• New applications like Netflix• Medical video applications• Triple play demand• Mobile devices becoming

cheaper and more accessible

FURTHER...FASTER

What’s happening to the Demand?

In 2014, the Internet will be four times larger than it was in 2009. (equivalent to 12 billion DVDs crossing the Internet each month)

Internet traffic will grow at an annual compound rate of 34% to 2014

By 2014 Internet video alone will account for 57% of all traffic

Eastern Ontario Regional Network

Eastern Ontario Regional Network

The EORN Commitments

A Network Superhighway with higher speeds, bandwidth and efficiency than currently exists

1. Access: 95% of the households & businesses

2. Higher Speeds: Up to10 Mbps for 85% of households/businesses

3. Affordable rates: Affordable Pricing

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EORN UPDATE……...Cont’d

• On time and on budget!*• Backhaul network is 48% complete

• Nine Last Mile Contracts Awarded to date (four announced)

• Four of Six First Nations participating

• $37,010,055 in Private Sector Cash Contributions to date

• $51,000,000 in Private Sector “in-kind” Contributions

*All work must be done by March 31, 2014

HOW ARE WE DOING WITH THE PROJECT?

• Xplornet Communications Inc. contractor (XCI)

• 20,000 homes & businesses covered over 1,300 sq kms

• Wireless network build underway using 20 towers of which 9 are new

• Service available = Fall 2012

Northumberland Zone

EORN Website

VISIT THE EORN WEB-SITE AT:

www.eorn.ca

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EORN UPDATE……...Cont’d

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EORN UPDATE……...Cont’d