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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2010 16 By Denise Paulsen Garbage disposal and development charges were the only issues raised at a special meeting of Council convened Monday night at the Guelph/Eramosa Township offices. Three people showed up to hear Guelph/Eramosa Manager of Finance Linda Cheyne highlight the de- tails of the proposed 2010 budget. Are they rich? Bill Carius a resident of Rockwood joked as he commented on the low public turnout at the meeting. Theyre incredibly happy with our servi- ces, Councillor John Scott remarked. What we have here is a status quo budget with reasonable, justifiable and adjusted for inflation rate changes. Any issues that the public had any real con- cerns with have been addressed, Mayor Chris White said. In recent years, this is typical. Attendance was higher in years past, White said. Rockwood resident Eric Stern ex- pressed concern about the hazardous waste management fee of $10 per visit levied by the City of Guelph in February. White suggested that Stern visit one of the five transfer stations in the County of Wellington where hazardous waste can be dropped off free of charge. Is the Township charging enough for development charges? We appear to be much lower than other areas such as Mis- sissauga, Halton Hills or Milton, Carius asked. Our rates are set by what the market will bear. We want to remain competi- tive. We have done an analysis and have come up with rates that are reasonable, White replied. Carius also asked if big garbage pick-up at the curb is a consider- ation. We have tried this in the past. It is not cost effective, White responded. The most significant increase in this years budget is the cost of insurance, and an increase in the Grand River Con- servation Authority charges. Insurance costs are up $72,689 and the GRCA levy increased by $13,584. The budget includes a $210,307 transfer from the Working Fund Reserve that will reduce the burden on the taxpayer. The over- all amount to be raised by taxation is $4,097,988.00 In the proposed 2010 budget the Town- ship portion of the tax bill will increase by 2.68 per cent. Based on a residential property assessment of $339,000 the an- nual average increase is $22.20 for a total of $848.08. The 2010 budget is expected to be approved at the next meeting of the council at the Guelph/Eramosa Township offices on Monday, April 19. Little interest in budget debate By Denise Paulsen A Guelph/Eramosa Township employee, who the township refuses to identify citing privacy issues, was involved in a serious incident late March when a rock was hurled at the cab of his grader by a passing motor- ist completely smashing the side window of the cab. The employee was not injured. The grader operator was doing gravel recovery roadwork on 3rd Line in Eramosa, north of 20th Side Road. My husband is not in- nocent in this, declared Jodie McDuffy the un- identified employees wife. Hes no angel, McDuffy said when asked to elaborate. She attended the meeting of council last week to hear Mayor White vigorously defend her husband. That was off-the-cuff, White said when asked to comment on McDuffys unsolicited remark. He dismissed the notion that the township employee may have responded to the motorist in a way that wasnt appropriate. We are shocked by this completely unacceptable behaviour. This is a vio- lent act. Our employee could have been injured. We will offer support and all the necessary resour- ces in our power will be made available to help the police with their in- vestigations. We will pursue it until the end, White assured McDuffy. Ken Gagnon, Manager of Public Works said this has never happened before. The OPP are continu- ing their investigations into this road-rage attack. The unknown driver of a vehicle had driven by the grader operator three times before throwing the rock. The township employee was covered in glass but not hurt. The total cost to replace and affix the cab window is estimated at $780. Gagnon feels the pub- lic should be made aware of the dangerous assault on a member of staff in the normal course of duty. Mayor Chris White and the township coun- cillors discussed the idea of adopting addi- tional measures to help with heightened public awareness to the dangers associated with this type of road-rage behaviour, such as more signage or introducing a fine-relat- ed by-law. Preventative measures are being con- sidered to discourage public non-compliance when road works are underway. By Denise Paulsen The Township is set to adopt a new Emergency Response Plan that will address how to handle large community emer- gencies. At the Guelph/ Eramosa council meet- ing last week Linda Dickson, the County of Wellingtons Community Emergency Management Co-ordinator presented Road Rage incident investigated Emergency response plans consolidated the countys decision to amalgamate eight emer- gency response plans into one comprehensive docu- ment. In the event of a catas- trophe such as a tornado, flood, hydro induced black-out, SARS pan- demic etc. this is the ultimate in co-ordina- tion, Dickson explained between the County of Wellington and the seven neighbouring munici- palities. This new plan is not a drastic change for the Guelph/Eramosa township. We are adding content on how to deal more effectively with any emergencies that are above and beyond the scope of the local fire and emergency services de- partment, Dickson said. The idea is to stream- line the eight emergency response p lans in to one covering the fol- lowing municipalities: County of Wellington, Centre Wellington, Erin, Guelph/Eramosa, Maple- ton, Minto, Puslinch and Wellington North. In the event of a large scale emergency, this updated init iat ive wil l apply across the board and be of benefit to all the mu- nicipalities, agencies and organizations involved. Evacuation procedures and emergency shelters will be established to pro- vide the necessary food, lodging, registration and inquiry information. The Wellington County social services division will set this up. Hospitals, schools and Red Cross agen- cies will provide added support. A revision to volunteer management will also be incorporated in the agenda. Recovery, which isnt prioritised in the cur- rent plan, is now a focus in the new document which is being compiled and circulated to all the councils for review and consideration. Once the thumbs-up is given by all eight municipalities, the new Emergency Response Plan will be adopted by the end of May, 2010.