ERIN – During the May 18 meeting, Erin town council accepted a bid received from Zamboni Company Limited for the purchase of a Zamboni Model 446 Ice Resurfacer for a contract value of $98,012.23, including non-rebate HST.
The Town of Erin is currently part of the Local Authority Services Purchasing Group operated by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) which provides group buying discounts on various products including Zamboni ice resurfacers.
Staff contacted Zamboni Company Ltd. and provided them with the specifications required for a new ice resurfacer.
Once the submission was received, staff reviewed the specifications to ensure they met the bid requirements and compared pricing to similar bids received in 2019.
The report identified the bid received from Zamboni Company Ltd. is within the approved 2021 capital budget amount of $110,000.
Development charges
Council received the 2020 treasurer’s statement on the Development Charges Reserve Fund, which shows the revenues, disbursements and year-end balances for 2020.
The report noted in 2020, $599,000 was collected for development charges, almost three times the amount collected in 2019.
In addition, interest earned on the reserve funds amounted to $11,000 compared to $46,000 in 2019, which the report noted was reflective of the decrease in interest rates.
The town’s Development Charges Reserve Fund total balance increased by $123,000 due to higher collections in all service areas with an increase in development, and lower amounts transferred to the township’s capital fund.
The report also outlined the reserve fund activity for 2020 which was valued at $1,101,658.
2021 Tax Report
Council also received the 2021 Tax Levy Report for information and adopted the tax rate bylaw presented in the report.
For 2021 final instalments, staff recommended in the report to have two instalment dates for all tax classes to accommodate residential and commercial classes.
The recommended instalment dates will also provide residential and farm classes an extra 30 days.
Adopted in 2020 due to the pandemic, the recommended deadlines for council consideration are Sept. 30, 2021 for the first final installment and Nov. 30, 2021 for the second final installment. The total summary of the town, County of Wellington and education levies to be collected in 2021 are valued at $28,029,715. The Town will also collect $17,200 for the Village of Erin BIA.
A ‘special services charge’ is applied to properties within specific areas serviced by streetlights in the amount of $60.00 per unit charge, for total revenue of $116,000. Wendy Parr, deputy treasurer, noted the previous charge was $71.65 per household. Now that they have LED lights, this has been reduced.
The report noted the 2021 residential tax rate increased by 1.04 per cent over the 2020 rate.
Outdoor Vendor Bylaw
In response to discrepancies identified by staff, council adopted a proposed bylaw for outdoor vendors.
Legislative services chose the bylaw as part of the annual review in response to discrepancies identified, including current restrictions and inconsistencies with some of council’s other bylaws.
The proposed bylaw added provisions to zoning and time restrictions. It added a provision for increased council powers to revoke licenses and an added provision stating that if a license is not followed through all the way, council will keep a 50% deposit to compensate staff time.
Pride Month
Mayor Allan Alls announced the town will be flying the Pride flag in support of Pride month in June at both the town’s fire halls. He noted they will not be flying it at town hall due to a limited budget available to replace a flag that previously went down.
