Eganville Leader wins awards
Congratulations are due to The Leader which reported last week that it had won First Place in Best Editorial Circulation Under 9,999 as well as Second Place in four other categories from the Ontario Community Newspapers Association. The First Place award was for editorial writing relating to its reporting of the “mess” at North Algona Wilberforce Township. The judge commented, “It takes guts in a small town to face an issue like this head on without apology. While the opinion is strong, to be sure, it’s backed up with evidence and example. Excellent.” Confirmation that investigative reporting has its place even in small communities.
Advance Care Planning assistance
Tuesday April 16 is National Advance Care Planning Day. Advance care planning is the process of reflecting on and discussing your wishes for care with your family and friends (team) before that day comes when you can’t tell them what you want. It also involves deciding on someone who will take the lead in making decisions for you if you can’t speak for yourself – your Substitute Decision Maker.
The Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care has set up an information bulletin board at the Opeongo Senior Centre, 19 Stafford Street, Barry’s Bay. The time to make these plans is while you are still able, so check it out for more details – it will be set up until the end of next week.
If you prefer, you can watch some videos prepared by Hospice Palliative Care Ontario. Click HERE to go to the videos on YouTube.
Help with cost of water meter replacement
At a Special Council Meeting on April 11 MV approved the allocation of $150,000 towards the cost of replacing the municipality’s water meters. The total cost for water meter replacement is estimated at $280,000. The $150,000 will come from a recently-announced $620,000 efficiency and cost-saving payment to the municipality. Acting Treasurer Amanda Hudder told Council that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing had confirmed that using some of the $620,000 for this purpose would fit the funding criteria.
At the same meeting, Council approved an increase in water and wastewater rates so that staff could proceed to prepare the 2019 bills. The new rates (per cubic meter) are $4.59 for water and $4.82 for wastewater. The volume for minimum consumption remains the same at 15 cubic meters per quarter.
MV sets budget day
Now that MV Council has made a start on the 2019 budget for the municipality by approving the Water & Wastewater budget, another Council in Committee (CiC) meeting has appeared on the MV calendar for Monday May 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting is described as Finance & Administration Budget. This appears to be an extra CiC meeting purely for the budget, as the calendar also contains the usual CiC meeting for Tuesday May 7. This means that the financial year will be almost half over before a budget is approved.
Summer employment opportunities for students in your household
Madawaska Valley is advertising for nine summer students in the Parks & Recreation Department as follows:
- Swimming instructor (one part-time position Barry’s Bay and one part-time position Combermere)
- Assistant swimming instructor (one part-time position Barry’s Bay and one part-time position Combermere)
- Parks labourer/ assistant (two part-time positions)
- Visitor centre attendant (two part-time positions: Barry’s Bay Railway Station and one part-time position: Combermere Mission House Museum)
Deadline for applications is Friday, April 26, 2019 at 4 p.m. Click HERE for more details from the township website.