Not just math
I don’t have any options,” explained Mary. “I’m on a fixed income. Where am I going to go?” Mary (not her real name) had just received a notice of a massive MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation) increase. It lay on the table in centre of the large room bounded on two sides by windows. Nearby, […]
Good things done well
In this, the final column of 2017, permit me to cast an approving nod to some of the good bits about Shire Hall. There are many, and I won’t touch on every one, nor will I make this a regular habit. Most weeks, I tend to pull apart the broken bits, the dysfunction and massive […]
Of geese and eggs
Is the housing market fixed in Prince Edward County? Has new homebuilding rebounded sufficiently to push already eyewatering development and building charges markedly higher? That’s the proposition being promoted by some on council, and some staff, eager to derive more one-time fees from new homebuilding. But do they risk chasing prospective builders away? Again? And […]
Straight up, please
Andrew Grunda is on spongy ground. The consulting economist advises County staff and council on how to set waterwork rates and development charges. He has done so for about a decade. To be abundantly clear, Grunda provides an important service—pushing the municipality to consider its future needs—pumps, pipes, libraries, roads etc.—and then formulating these costs […]
Understanding ag
Dodie Ellenbogen grows vegetables on her small farm on Elmbrook Road, north of Picton. She sells “green leafy things” such as arugula, kale and bok choy at her farm stand and various occasional markets around the County. The young mother of a little girl, she grows an unusually wide array of vegetables—some, admittedly, have never […]
From the porch
When Chris Bowles sank his teeth into a challenge he could not, would not, leave it alone until it lay in tatters in weary defeat. Fearless and tireless, he pursued his objective with the same tenacity whether it was through anonymous federal bureaucrats or equally narrow-focused rodents. Chris was harbourmaster in Wellington for much of […]
Good is bad
John Thompson wants you to pay his property tax increase. John’s property taxes are higher this year because his land is worth more. He doesn’t want to cash in his windfall just yet—so he wants you to pick up the resulting increase in his property taxes. Forever. On Thursday, John will ask council to do […]
Staying home
Imiss Mary Darlington. Mary lived just around the corner on East Street—the house where a pair of trees were coaxed decades past to join a few feet off the ground— forming a distinct arboreal X symbol on her front yard. Mary wrote a column in this newspaper for a time—a gentle and hopeful contemplation of […]
Vulnerable
It turns out, no one is standing on guard for thee. Wind and rain have been blowing across Prince Edward County all weekend long. Meanwhile, massive mounds of road salt lie uncovered and exposed to the blowing rain, stockpiled on a patch of ground next to Picton Bay—plumes of sodium chloride crystals are often picked […]
Helping plenty
Farmland owners need to knock on another door. Residential homeowners have given already. Plenty. For 20 years, homeowners have paid 75 per cent of farmland tax. They didn’t agree to do this. It was thrust upon them in a basket of bad ideas conjured by Mike Harris and his team at Queen’s Park in the […]