Minto council received assurances upgrades to the Palmerston Library will be proceeding, just not this year.
Wellington County councillor Mark McKenzie advised council the project, as well as planned upgrades to the Hillsburgh Library, were deferred until 2015 and 2016 respectively, to help the county limit spending in the budget. About $2 million has been budgeted for the Palmerston upgrades, while the $4 million is earmarked for the Hillsburgh project.
“It’s been deferred for another year, but we’ll get to it. It’s in our five-year plan,” McKenzie stated during an update on county activities at the May 7 Minto council meeting.
Councillor Ron Elliott wanted to know why the project needed to be deferred since the money was already budgeted.
“The county wanted to lower the tax increase this year from 2.8 per cent, so they pulled it out of our budget for this year,” McKenzie explained, adding the spending deferrals helped keep the county levy increase to 2%.
McKenzie noted that circulation of materials at the library in Harriston has increased by 23% since the branch was re-opened last summer, following extensive renovations.
Also in his report, McKenzie advised council the county plans to send a proposal to increase allowable rural lot sizes to two acres.
“They want to increase the size of the lots, so municipalities will have a say in that.”
