January 19, 2017 · 0 Comments
November 3, 2016
• The Orangeville Fire Department will not be adding four new full-time firefighters to its ranks in 2017 after Town Council voted against a request from local Fire Chief Ron Morden at its Oct. 25 budget meeting.
Submitted as part of a local firefighting “master plan” earlier this year, Chief Morden had asked that council consider bolstering its local fire service with four new full-time members in 2017 and an additional four full-time members in 2018 after it was revealed the department was not currently meeting provincial response time requirements.
• Orangeville resident Nick Hann checked another item off his bucket list in late October after he completed an 82 kilometre trek from Orangeville to the CN Tower in Toronto, raising over $11,000 for Cystic Fibrosis.
November 10, 2016
• Well, they did it again. Just as they have for the past 12 years, students and staff from Westside Secondary School went above and beyond at their annual Pink Day fundraiser on Nov. 4, raking in an unprecedented $21,500 for the Breast Cancer Society of Canada.
The overwhelming success of this year’s event has propelled Westside above the $100,000 mark in donations since it started participating in the annual fundraiser in 2004.
• Orangeville council approved a 2017 capital budget that involves a total capital investment of just under $8.5 million this year.
Almost 80 percent of those funds, or close to $6.4 million, will go towards several infrastructure and transportation projects, with sizeable renovations of Princess Street ($2.5 million), York Street ($1.2 million) and Bythia Street ($525,000) penciled in for 2017. Just over $1 million has been set aside for Parks and Recreation spending, $500,000 for environmental services and $220,000 going toward the library.
• Local homeowners were also pleased to hear the Town’s portion of their property tax will be less than initially estimated, thanks in part to an unexpected increase in annual hydro dividends and a commitment from the Province to help offset court security costs.
As a result of the late additions, ratepayers will see their tax hikes for local services drop from 4.6 percent to 3.5 percent in 2017. That equates to a new average increase of $95.89 this year.
November 17, 2016
• Thanks in large part to a surplus expected this year, Dufferin County council was presented with a draft 2017 budget on Nov. 10 that would see an increase of just 1.49 percent on the County’s share of property tax bills.
• Three executive members of the Orangeville Ice Crushers hockey club were charged with offences after Dufferin OPP discovered over $65,000 worth of marijuana at a residence in Amaranth.
Among those charged was the team’s general manager and head coach Coleman Schneider, while goaltender Ryan Zeng was also arrested, charged and later released from custody. The team’s public relations director Rada Culciar was also charged following a brief investigation.
• Following a prolonged seven-year search, the committee behind the innovative Bravery Park project may have finally found a home in Orangeville.
On Nov. 10, several members of the committee met with representatives from the Town of Orangeville and a number of local residents to discuss the possibility of the park being placed beside the Alder Street recreational facility. Original plans for the project include a seven-foot bronze monument, memorial wall, a labyrinth, a pavilion and a playground. It’s slated to cost in the region of $100,000.
November 24, 2016
• After a rigorous six-month national search, Headwaters Health Care Centre’s Board of Directors announced that Stacey Daub will join Headwaters Health Care Centre as the hospital’s new President and CEO on Jan. 30.
Ms. Daub will join Headwaters from the Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre, where she is currently its Chief Executive Officer.