Summarized below is information from the October 20th Council meeting:

• Council approved the recommendations of the Waste Cost Review Committee contained in the report of September 28 with one amendment. Curbside pick up service will be extended during WINTER months as well, to municipally winter maintained roads on Appendix ‘D’ of the report. These roads were originally intended for SUMMER curbside service only. Please pick up a copy of the report at the Township offices or download it from the Township website for all the details.
• MPAC made a presentation to the Township regarding the new assessment process and notices. The key piece of information imparted was that the average assessment valuation increase in the Twp is 35.08%. Obviously, waterfront properties increased substantially more (mine rose 50%), so mathematically, many others rose substantially less than 35%. Also, the time frame for filing a Request for Reconsideration has been extended to March 31, and more important, filing a RfR is now a REQUIRED step in the appeal process. Also, if you are an island property owner, MPAC has advised that they are not “happy” with the assessments and/or the increases for island properties, and have recommended that those with unusual increases contact MPAC or file an RfR immediately.
  One final note in this regard, if you are on a private road, make sure that your property information in MPAC (you will have to call them to verify) indicates that you are on a seasonal road not a municipally maintained road. The benefit is a 10% reduction on the land portion of your assessment due to the restricted access.
• The MacTier Library project is complete and will host an opening celebraion on Saturday Oct 25 at 2PM. Everyone is welcome.

That’s it for now. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact me.

Jon Lett
Ward 3 Councillor
Township of Georgian Bay
705-756-2967 Home
705-733-6019 Cell
councilor.lett@sympatico.ca