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Pa ge 2 T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 1 1, 2 01 4 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a CIVIC CENTRE - 905-873-2600 The Civic Centre will close for the holidays Wednesday, December 24, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. and will re-open on Friday, January 2, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. ACTIVAN - 905-873-2601 ext. 2617 The ActiVan Service will be available on an after-hours basis. The booking office wil l be closed Wednesday, December 24th, at 12:00 p.m. to December 28th, and again on Thursday, January 1st, 2015. CANINE CONTROL - 905-877-6235 FIRE HEADQUARTERS - 905-877-1133 Ha l t o n H i l l s F i r e Depa r tmen t Administration will close for the holidays Wednesday, December 24, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. and will re-open on Friday, January 2, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES - PUBLIC WORKS Public Works After-Hours Contact: 905-873-2600 - press 2 to connect to the Public Works After-Hours Line and follow the prompts. PUBLIC LIBRARIES Georgetown Branch: 905-873-2681 December 24: 9:30 am - 12:00 noon December 25: Closed December 26: Closed December 27: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm December 28: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm December 29: Closed December 30: 9:30 am - 8:30 pm December 31: 9:30 am - 12:00 noon January 1: Closed Acton Branch: 519-853-0301 December 24: 9:30 am - 12:00 noon December 25: Closed December 26: Closed December 27: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm December 28: Closed December 29: Closed December 30: 9:30 am - 8:30 pm December 31: 9:30 am - 12:00 noon January 1: Closed RECREATION & PARKS DEPARTMENT Gellert Community Centre December 22nd - Open Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. December 23rd - Open Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. December 24th Open until noon *Regular Schedule Cancelled (Lane swim 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Leisure swim 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.) December 25th & 26th - Closed December 27th & 28th - Open *Regular Schedule December 29th & 30th - Open *Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. December 31st - Open until noon *Regular Schedule Cancelled (Lane swim 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., Leisure swim 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.) January 1st - Closed January 2nd - Open *Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. *Regular admission fee applies Acton Indoor Pool December 22nd - Open Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. December 23rd - Open Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. December 24th - 26th Closed December 27th & 28th - Open *Regular Schedule December 29th & 30th - Open Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure swim 2:00-3:00 p.m. December 31st - January 1, 2015 - Closed January 2nd - Open *Regular Schedule plus additional Leisure/Lane swim 2:00- 3:00 p.m. *Regular admission fee applies For the full holiday swim schedules please go to the Town website www.haltonhills.ca Acton Arena & Community Centre & Mold-Masters SportsPlex December 24th - Open until noon December 25th - Closed December 26th - Closed December 27 - 30th - Open December 31st - Open until noon January 1st - Closed For the full holiday skate schedules p lease go to the Town webs i te www.haltonhills.ca Hillsview Active Living Centre - Georgetown December 24th - Open until noon December 25th & 26th - Closed December 29th & 30th - Open December 31st - Open until noon January 1st, 2015 - Closed January 2nd, 2015 - Open Hillsview Active Living Centre - Acton December 24th, 25th, and 26th - Closed December 29th, 30th - Open December 31, Jan. 1, 2015 - Closed Jan. 2, 2015 - Open Halton Hills Cultural Centre & Helson Gallery December 24th - Open until noon December 25th & 26th - Closed December 27th & 28 Open 1pm-5pm December 29th Closed December 31 - Open until noon January 1 Closed FOR EMERGENCIES - FIRE/POLICE/AMBULANCE: DIAL 911 128 HOLIDAY CLOSURES 2014 MUNICIPAL HOLIDAY SCHEDULE The Town is "putting together as much as the required information as we have based on the new guidelines," said Bonnette. "The staff are working vigorously to complete the new guidelines," he said, adding that last month the Town was advised they could hire a consultant to create the submission to the program, but he said it's too late to do that given the Dec. 31 deadline. The mayor said the change in the guidelines "has made the requirements extremely complex and time consum- ing." "Now that the new policy is in we don't know how much of the original $1.8 million (that was previously eli- gible) will qualify. The indications are that it will be less than the $1.8 million," said Bonnette. "I am extremely frustrated with the latest change in the guidelines," said Bonnette, who wrote a letter to Mc- Meekin last month complaining that "the goal posts keep moving." "We want to get our money that was promised earlier from the Province. The bureaucrats have made this far too complicated than what it really needs to be," said Bonnette. In his letter to McMeekin, Bonnette said the $1.8 million of direct costs orig- inally submitted based on the original program guideline requirements rep- resents a significant financial burden to the Town. "I would strongly ask you to recon- sider the significant changes to the program guidelines that were in place when we compiled and submitted our claim," Bonnette wrote. McMeekin told The Toronto Star, "we frankly want to make sure that we do this right. We never want to be in a position where we are expediting, pushing money out the door . . . ." "We're not an ATM," McMeekin said earlier. The Ice Storm Assistance Program is distinct from the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program. Under the ice storm program, the Province must cover municipal costs and then apply to Ottawa for compensation. Given the magnitude of the ice storm damage, Ontario is eligible for federal disaster financial assistance and has submitted an application to Public Safety Canada to share the cost of the storm. Elizabeth Savill, a spokesperson for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), said that while the as- sistance was welcome, the process to tap into it is considered onerous, to the point where her own municipality Nor- thumberland County is on the verge of abandoning its $38,000 claim. "Some municipalities may decide they can't meet the onerous require- ments being placed on municipalities. In . . . Northumberland County we weren't looking to make a really large claim . . . we will seriously reconsider whether or not we submit an applica- tion under the program," said Savill, the chief administrative officer for the county and AMO secretary treasurer. Among other things, a federal audit requirement has made the process far more complex, she said. To make matters worse, Savill said there is a claim review period that could drag the process out even further, pos- sibly to 2016. McMeekin said municipal concerns about the program come as a complete surprise. "We've not had a single municipality complain about the process to date," he said. Bonnette's letter was sent Nov. 28. Veteran Progressive Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman (Oxford) said, "I just can't believe that it needs to be that complicated for the people filling it out. They (a provincially hired consultant) actually gave training to municipal staff to fill out an application. I have never seen anything like it. "Emergency assistance should not take a year to get the applications filled out," he said, adding earlier application forms were emailed to municipalities in September but the training to fill out the forms wasn't available until Nov. 18. Hardeman earlier questioned the government's decision to pay $2.8 mil- lion to a private company, Landlink Consulting Ltd., to assist with process- ing the claims. He stated Landlink had numerous problems with the Alberta Flood Relief Program, resulting in the provincial government publicly ending the contract. --with files from Lisa Tallyn, Staff Writer NEWS Town frustrated by changing ice storm reimbursement guidelines Continued from page 1 The anniversary of the Ice Storm 2013 is approaching, and the Province has yet to reimburse municipalities for the costs incurred from the natural disaster. File photo by Jon Borgstrom 'We want our money that was promised earlier from the Province.' --Mayor Bonnette