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Year 141, Issue 43
The Scott Woods Band performed in Horton Township recently. – Page 21 –
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39 Renfrew Ave.W., W., Unit Raglan St. S.1, 39 342 Renfrew Ave. Unit 1, Box 100, Renfrew K7V 4A2 Renfrew K7V 1R5 P.O.P.O. Box 100, Renfrew K7V 4A2 Pager Pager 1-888-717-9181 Pager1-888-717-9181 1-888-717-9181
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Mercury
Inside
The 2012 Day of Mourning was marked Saturday afternoon at the workers’ memorial near the Swinging Bridge. – Page 22 –
Undercoating
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Thursday, May 3, 2012 • 48 pages
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CAP cut hurts local libraries Steve Newman steve.newman@metroland.com
Since the mid-1990s, libraries in rural and remote locations have used Community Access Program (CAP) funding to provide free or low-cost Internet access and other computer services to the public. But the federal government has just pulled the plug on CAP, with the funding ending March 31, 2012. The decision is expected to adversely affect Internet services at libraries in Douglas, Eganville, Calabogie, Cobden and Renfrew. There will be a sharp increase in access to broadband service in Renfrew County by late 2013. But that doesnʼt address the needs of rural library staffs, which are left wondering what theyʼll do to upgrade, improve and provide Internet service that many residents wouldnʼt otherwise have. “Public computers are one of the most highly used services in our library,” said Meriah
Caswell, head librarian of the Greater Madawaska Public Library in Calabogie. “Patrons use our six public computers to search for jobs, write and update resumes, access government documents and forms, do homework, and participate in todayʼs online cultures. As many areas of the Township of Greater Madawaska currently do not have broadband Internet access, the library is the only place in the township where residents can access public computers with high-speed internet.” With a modest budget and without CAP funds, Caswell said the library “will have to make up the difference. This is a heavy burden to place on many small rural public libraries, including GMPL. The loss of CAP will have a significant impact on our library as we attempt to find funds to repair and replace aging equipment and keep up with the other significant costs of offering public computers.” See CAP, Page 4
Mercury photo by Lucy Hass
A prickly predicament
Renfrew’s LAFT Players theatre group was dishing up the humour on the weekend with its production of The Christmas Cactus. Jacob Johnston played escaped convict Ramon Ramirez. For more photos, see Page 12.
Levy rising 1.9 per cent in Renfrew budget Steve Newman steve.newman@metroland.com
Bowling awards were handed out Saturday night in Renfrew. – Page 26 –
Renfrew councilʼs pie-in-the-sky goal for the 2012 budget was a tax levy increase of two per cent. Mission accomplished. The townʼs 2012 budget was approved Monday night with a 1.9 per cent tax levy increase and an expected tax rate increase of about 1.2 per cent over 2011. Based on an unchanged home assessment value of $100,000 from 2011 to 2012, Renfrew ratepayers will see the municipal portion of the entire tax bill rise $10.43, but actually see an en-
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tire tax bill (of town, county and education taxes) drop by $15.95. Those entire tax bills would drop from $1,494.54 to $1,478.59, while the Renfrew portion would rise from $879.66 to $890.09. The average home assessment value in Renfrew is about $206,000. Renfrewʼs total operating expenses for 2012 are budgeted at $8.5 million, including $1.8 million in non-tax revenue and $6.7 million in taxation revenue. Thatʼs a 1.9 per cent rise in total operating costs, which town treasurer Keray OʼReilly said compares nicely
to the countyʼs increase of 3.3 per cent this year. “Because the water and sewer rates took such a jump this year, there was a mandate from council to keep the rise in operating costs somewhere around two (per cent) or something less than two,” said OʼReilly. “Thatʼs why weʼre pleased with 1.9 (per cent).” The biggest ticket item, which eventually resulted in support of all seven council members, created some discussion. This arose after the finance committee chair, Coun. Gail Cole, asked if
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purchasing the $850,000 aerial ladder fire truck was necessary. Fire Chief Longtin said it was. He noted the present aerial truck is insufficient for reaching many parts of local buildings, including ones in the Raglan Street corridor, while the new fire truck would offer a longer and safer aerial ladder and platform from which to fight fires. The current truck, with a significantly shorter ladder of about 75 feet, is also due to be decommissioned after being part of the departmentʼs inventory for 25 years . See FIRE TRUCK, Page 5
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