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May 8, 2014 | 80 pages
www.insideottawavalley.com
Inside
By HOWAIDA SOROUR hsorour@perfprint.ca
World renowned Smiths Falls carver recognized. — Page SF1
COMMUNITY Photo by HOWAIDA SOROUR
Food for thought Community – Inspired by We Day these four Grade 8 students at Duncan J. Schoular Public School challenged their fellow students to a food drive. The initiative was only supposed to last a week but ended up running for a month. By the end they had collected 1,354 items of food for the Smiths Falls Community Food Bank. Shown here from left: Katie Scott, Krissy Draper, Emily Chatwood, and Hailey Crate.
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AECOM gets contract for rehab of Poonamalie Earth Dam News – AECOM’s energy group in Montreal has been awarded a new contract with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and Parks Canada to rehabilitate the Poonamalie Earth Dam near Smiths Falls. “This contract highlights the integrated team effort and the expertise of our engineering professionals in Montreal. Public Works and Government Services Canada is a key AECOM client, and the win, positions our company as a major player in the rehabilitation of historic Canadian infrastructure to insure their durability for future generations,� said Damien Tholomier, AECOM’s energy lead in Canada. The Poonamalie Earth Dam and lock station were built in 1832 and form part of the Rideau
Canal National Historic Site and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parks Canada continues to make significant investments on Canada’s historic canals for essential water management infrastructure improvements. This $4.3 million project will rehabilitate the dam as part of Parks Canada’s capital investment on Ontario’s historic canals to support communities and bordering businesses. It will improve stability, enhance a service vehicle lane, and improve public safety with a new deck railing system. “Our government has made record investments to canals and we continue to work with our partners and communities to maintain the Rideau Canal as a navigable waterway, providing world-class experiences to visitors, which benefits communi-
ties and local businesses. These investments are integral in supporting economic development and families in the region,� said Gord Brown, member of parliament for Leeds-Grenville. Reconstructed canal cut walls will reuse stone salvaged from the existing wall. AECOM will manage the construction and contract administration services for this project and have a resident engineer on-site to inspect, coordinate and monitor all aspects of the work during the construction. Parks Canada plans to invest $3.2 million over the next two years on the Rideau Canal for preventative maintenance projects and visitor facilities. This is in addition to the $391.5 million of planned funding in the 2014 Economic Action Plan.
News – There has been outrage, there have been pleas and there are disappointments. The Smiths Falls recreation cost sharing agreement has finally gone through but not without a lot of pain. Only three of the five neighbouring municipalities have agreed to participate in the cost sharing agreement, two have declined. “Most of our members from these two townships have been inquiring about and/or requesting transfers to neighbouring associations where user fees would be significantly less and/ or non-existent,� Nancy Green, president of the Smiths Falls Minor Hockey Association (SFMHA) told Smiths Falls council on April 28, adding that the usual district transfer fee has been waived. According to Greene, the association is facing the loss of 45 members, along with 13 coaches, managers and volunteers. The loss of players will mean fewer teams but the loss of the adults is also a huge concern because so many of those volunteers were certified by the SFMHA. “We simply do not have the funds within our budget to re-certify new volunteers,� said Greene. The Smiths Falls Girls Hockey Association (SFGHA) has a similar concern, although for them the loss is steeper because girls hockey has free movement anyway. “This will lead to reduced enrollment and put the competitive program at risk. Without a competitive program SFGHA will be unable to attract players from outside of Smiths Falls which in turn will lead to Smiths Falls players leaving for opportunities to play competitive hockey in other communities,� said Steve Doyle, SFGHA president.
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That reduced enrollment will mean lost revenues to the arena is almost certain, but just how that will impact the town is still unknown. “If users start to decline we will have to monitor that, and we may have to change the hours of operation or find other cost savings,� said Smiths Falls chief administrative officer (CAO), Stephen Fournier. In the meantime two of the five neighbouring municipalities have declined to participate in the cost sharing agreement. Elizabethtown-Kitley and Merrickville-Wolford both say they cannot afford to participate in the new cost sharing agreement. “The bottom line is it’s a huge increase,� said MerrickvilleWolford Mayor Doug Struthers. All five neighbouring municipalities have had cost sharing arrangements with Smiths Falls for decades. Both MerrickvilleWolford and ElizabethtownKitley were contributing about $8,000 a year indexed to inflation. Under the new cost sharing agreement, Merrickville-Wolford would be required to contribute $16,461 in 2014 ramping up to $27,328 by 2016 while Elizabethtown Kitley would be looking at $24,429 by 2016. According to ElizabethtownKitley Mayor Jim Pickard, that cost comes in addition to a cost sharing agreement with Athens that works out to $100 per child, and another informal arrangement with Brockville where most of his residents go, of a flat $20,000 a year. So $316 per child to enter into the agreement with Smiths Falls was a bit steep. “It was higher than other municipalities – it was very high,� said Yvonne Robert, clerk with Elizabethtown-Kitley, who sat in on all the discussions over the past two years. See COST page SF3
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FEATURE
Smiths Falls native pays tribute to skate park through video. — Page SF13
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