Local residents and businesses planning work on their property or wanting to host an event, may want to act soon – before the price goes up.
Council will have to pass a new bylaw to make the changes official, but last week councillors offered no objections to a number of proposed changes to its fees and charges bylaw, including several increases ranging from 50 to 100%.
“Each department was asked to review the fees and charges bylaw and provide proposed revisions or new fees related to the services they provide,” finance director Mike Givens said in his report to council.
Proposed changes in the building department include:
– a 100% increase, from $100 to $200, in the fee for additions to farm buildings (the $0.15/ square foot extra charge remains unchanged);
– 100% increase, from $100 to $200, for grain bins;
– 250% increase from $100 to $350, for bunker silos, although the additional fee of 0.10/ft2 is deleted;
– a new $100 fee for decks;
– new $200 fee (plus $0.20/ft2) for mezzanines;
– new demolition permit fee of $50 plus $0.01/ft2;
– new fee for wind turbines (greater than 3 kilowatts in size) and solar energy projects of $10 per every $10,000 worth of construction;
– 50% increase, from $200 to $300, in the fee for additions or renovations to assembly or institutional buildings (for assembly buildings, the additional fees of $0.50/ft2 for additions and $0.20/ft2 for renovations remain unchanged, while the additional renovation fee for institutional buildings will drop from $0.50/ft2 to $0.20/ft2); and
– 50% increase, from $200 to $300, for additions or renovations to office buildings as well as renovations to industrial buildings (the additional square-foot charges remain unchanged).
Under the administration department, there is only one change: deleting the $30 fee for “water and sewer certificates” and adding a $30 fee for tax certificates and a $55 fee for tax certificates including water and wastewater information.
In the planning department there are two proposed changes:
– a 50% increase, from $1,000 to $1,500, in the deposit required to cover costs associated with minor variance applications; and
– a 21% increase, from $700 to $850 per lot, for cash in lieu of parkland charges to residential developers.
Under public works the township is proposing a new fee of $35 per hour for staff time and $55 per hour for staff time plus equipment.
There are several increases proposed in the parks and recreation area, including the following rental fee changes:
– a 12% increase, from $383 to $430, for renting the full PMD Arena or Moorefield halls (including kitchen and bar);
– a $25 per hour charge for the PMD Arena board room, which for a three hour rental is effectively a 79% increase (the current charge is $42 for three hours); and
– an 18% increase, from $761 to $900, to rent the entire PMD Arena complex.
There was very little discussion of the proposed changes before council unanimously approved a resolution stating they have no objections to revising the township’s fees and charges bylaw.
Council will likely consider a bylaw endorsing the changes at a future meeting.
