The Carlyle Town Council met on March 6 for a regular meeting. They covered usual business such as town water consumption and looked at quotes for the furnace at the town shop; but, they also looked at a number of other important issues concerning the town as well.
Darren Grimes, a councillor who is on the Memorial Hall Board, reported on the plans to replace the flooring in the hall. The estimated cost of the project is between $35,000 and $45,000. Currently the Memorial Hall Board has a total of $20,000 set aside for this, while Cornerstone Theatre has $5,000 they are willing to put towards it. The project will not begin until January, so they will be fundraising throughout the year in order to meet their projected costs.
This was brought towards council in order to purchase materials through the town as the town will receive GST rebates, which will help keep the cost of the project down for the Memorial Hall Board.
Also, on the Memorial Hall Board's agenda is to raise the backdoor as it is currently letting water into the building.
The zoning bylaws of the annexed lands were supposed to have their first reading; but, council decided against this because they did not agree with the layout of the area. Ultimately it was not set up how they wanted and after changes are made it will be brought back to the next meeting.
Huguette Lutz, Town Administrator, will be applying for a grant in order to work on walking paths the town has had planned for a few years. They are attempting to get the money in order to finish the project.
Patmore Nursery offered to plant trees for the town; but, after looking at the cost the town decided against this. They had discussed the idea because they have a small group of workers and planting trees is quite labour intensive. This year the town will still be planting trees and will focus on the new subdivision this year.
Two members of council will be attending a community meeting in Stoughton, which the government is going to address flood response. They will give updates on spring runoff conditions and mitigation of potential flooding.
The creation of a new well was also discussed at the meeting. The old wells are no longer used and do not have the capacity necessary to meet demands if something happens to their current well. They have authorized Beckie Hydrogeologists to research for the best possible location. This will give the town two adequate wells to deal with demand and the potential increase of use with a growing population.
The water treatment plant's final payment was made and thus the project is completed.
One of the issues brought forth created a dialogue during the meeting. There was a bulletin sent out by the Ministry of Government Relations, which dictated that a tax tool applied to a property class needed to be consistent regardless of whether or not there had been improvements made to the lot.
The town of Carlyle has been applying a base tax to residential properties, but haven't applied this to properties without improvements on them. In essence a change regarding vacant lots could create a large jump in taxes paid by individuals owning these lots.
Included in this discussion of the bulletin received from the Ministry of Government Relations was a letter sent from the town of Wynyard to Carlyle town council.
Wynyard sent comments including the creation of inequity concerning property tax applications. They see splitting minimum tax, as in having a different rate for property with improvements and those without improvements. Not only does the change that the Ministry of Government Relations is requesting result in higher taxes for people; but, it creates an issue regarding administration. Overall Wynyard has interpreted The Municipalities Act and has decided to continue applying the minimum tax in the same way they have been. They will continue to differentiate between vacant land and improved land.
After reading through these messages the town of Carlyle decided to follow Wynyard's example. They will continue to apply their base tax in a way that separates land that has had improvements made to it and land that has not.
