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! BOWM A N VILLE LIBRARY j 163 Church Street 1.1.04 ! Bowmanville, Ont. L1C 1T7 Orono Town Hall GST Included Wednesday February 11, 2004 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 18% wage hike for Mayor "We are the councillors, and there are no benefits when we retire." --Jim Schell Regional Councillor !mi.iiil.ilmiiilil i i .iiit him. !.. i. ill him 1 mill m ---- Orono Girl Guide, Sidney Somerville exhibits one of the tray favour decorations the group made for Meals on Wheels Monday night. Fire pian too rich for Ciarington The affordability of Clar- The same number of addi- ington's Fire Master Plan is of tional staff is recommended great concern to the Mayor. for 2006 and 2007 and anoth- A consultant's report on the status of Clarington's fire fighting capabilities and future needs was presented to Councillors at Monday's General Purpose and Administration Committee meeting. The report by Dillon Consulting, outlined the need for an additional four full-time firefighters this year, five more next year with a new rescue rescue vehicle with the relocation of the Courticc Station to Trulls Road. er rescue vehicle. By 2013 the Dillon report recommends the relocation of the Newcastle station to a site west of the village village to improve coverage of eastern Bowmanville. By that time 16 new full time fire fighters will be required along with a new pumper and another another rescue vehicle minutes), Ciarington would be looking at a six to seven per cent tax increase each year just to handle the firefighting requirements according to the Mayor. Mr. Claudio Covelli, who presented the Dillon report Monday, stated that it was a trade off, whether residents residents paid for fire service through their taxes or through higher insurance premiums. Covelli stated that when the At the tail end of January 19th's council meeting, councillors councillors approved a wage increase and a severance package for themselves. Councillors returned from an in-camera meeting to chambers chambers and an empty public gallery, to suspend the rules and approve the package motion put forward by Regional -- Councillor Jim Schell. The motion was to increase the Mayor's base salary by $10,000 and to introduce a severance package of one month for each year served when a council member no longer holds public office. It was passed unanimously. -- The motion was not previously previously on any agenda fell under "Other Business", which councillors tended to after a lengthy 'in camera' session. Councillor Schell said in a phone interview on Monday, that he had surveyed municipalities municipalities across Ontario with a similar population base and discovered Ciarington councillors councillors were at the low end of the scale as far as remuneration. remuneration. "We are the lowest paid councillors, and there are no benefits when we retire," stated stated Schell. "While we didn't go into politics for the money, I think we were underpaid." Schell was adamant that he was not increasing John Mutton's salary, but that of the position of the Mayor of Ciarington. Schell's motion to increase the Mayor's base salary was over and above the annual 3% increase members of council are getting under the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) collective agreement. A recommendation adopted by council in 2002, locks their salary increases to that of unionized staff. In that same report council approved the motion to tie any councillor salary increases to 40% of any future increase to the mayor's salaiy. "I don't think anyone anywhere has said councillors were over paid," stated Schell. "The remuneration remuneration is somewhat somewhat under what it would be in the private private sector." As a result of the January 19th motion, Mayor Mutton will be earning $64,000 a year, and councillors' councillors' salaries will be up from $21,860 to $24,860. The sever- ance package mirrors that of the Region of Durham -- one month's pay for every year served. According to Schell, Uxbridge and Ciarington were the only municipalities in the Region who had not yet initiated initiated severance packages for elected officials. Through a proposal put forth from the Regional Finance Department, which is chaired by Clarington's Mayor John Mutton, that council will be dealing with a motion for a pay raise for Regional Councillors of nearly nearly 50 per cent if approved. Regional councillors Schell and Mac Arthur will earn $39,984 on top of their salary from Ciarington. Mayor John Mutton will earn $64,000 this year from Ciarington, $39,000 from the Region, plus $6,000 for his position as Chair of the Regional Finance Committee. In addition to that, Mayor Mutton earns $10,500 in his position as Vice Chair of MAYOR continued page 3 "What do we do in terms of Enniskillen Station was built, the affordability factor?" Tyrone residents had their fire asked Mutton. To meet the Ontario Fire Marshal's standard standard of 10/10 (meaning ten firefighters at the scene in ten insurance premiums cut in half. Mutton wondered if the FIRE PLAN continued page What's Inside waste at Port Granby