Lancaster ON –It was a lovely night for a meeting, but sadly this meeting was not a joyous one in this small Ontario community near the Quebec border. A group of building owners were concerned about what they could
- South Glengarry Mayor, PC Provincial candidate, and Racoon expert Jim McDonell
possibly do to challenge what seems to be a train in the night ramming through of a by-law that will raise water rates for multi-residential buildings by almost 300%!!
Owners of Multi-unit residential buildings in Lancaster, Dean and Brian
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oix4_xixSxg
Township of South Glengarry by-law 32-11 is set to be read for the third time Monday September 12th; coincidentally about when Mayor Jim McDonell is scheduled to take a leave of absence to chase the MPP seat in the upcoming Ontario election on behalf of the Tim Hudak led Progressive Conservatives on the platform of lowering taxes.
The tenants and landlords however are finding nothing Progressive or Conservative about the whopping raise in water rates which already are some of the highest in the region. Nearby Cornwall Ontario for example has a much lower water rate and the cost hooking up new buildings to the water system is lower too. A few of the people in the group that build new developments also commented how areas like Ingleside and Long Sault are growing quickly while it’s becoming prohibitively expensive to build in South Glengarry under Mayor McDonell’s regime.
Sue talks about the impact of 32-11 on Seniors and her long term tenants.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKUDtoTfHOo
What By-Law 32-11 is doing is multiplying water bills by the amount of units in a building. Most of the building owners at the meeting were upset that Mayor McDonell and his council seemed to have rammed this bill through first and second readings without leaving enough time for them to organize or make a presentation. That the sleepy community with a higher than average population of seniors on fixed imcomes simply won’t be able to absorb the extra fees in one shot and many voiced that this was connected to the new Flying J Truck stop being built in Lancaster that some estimated would consume 24% of the available water in the village.
Estimates from the group suggest that the secret tax grab would amount to between $100,000 to $150,000 per year for the Township which is odd coming from a Mayor who’s running on a lower tax platform?
The group is hoping that they can lobby to get a rescheduling of the 3rd reading scheduled Monday at the Council meeting so as to have a public forum and consult with lawyers if need be as this can affect nearly 500 people in the tiny region.
They want as many people as possible to contact the Township office, Mayor and Council to voice their objection to the by-law and at least delay it for 90 days so that they can properly fight it, or at least have any future tax hikes delivered in a more humane fashion.
The email address for the township is info@southglengarry.com or you can phone the office at 613 347 1166. They are located at 6 Oak Street in Lancaster Ontario.
Township contacts.
Mayor McDonell: 613-347-1800 im.mcdonell@bell.net
Deputy Mayor Ian McLeod 
613-347-2144
613-933-5602
613-933-2620
ian.mcleod@genivar.com
Councilor Bill McKenzie
613-347-2982
613-347-3254
Councilor Joyce Gravelle
613-528-4029
joyceg50@bell.net
Councilor Trevor Bougie
613-931-2238
tx_bougie@laurentian.ca
CAO Derik Brandt
613-347-1166
613-347-3411
derik@southglengarry.com
Director Water & Wastewater Sean Killoran
613-931-3036
shawnkilloran@on.aibn.com
We emailed Mayor McDonell before print of this story, but as of yet have had a reply. We’re happy to print any statement he wishes to make unedited.
Ironic video of Mayor McDonell complaining about tax increases
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXRNNo5MNmM
Someone has to pay for the Provinical water quality monitoring network, Provincial ground water monitoring network, water opportunities and water conservation act, water technologies acceleration project and the drinking water survielence program. Isn’t that the thinking of some on hydro rates, someone has to pay!
KARMA…McDonell has been talking about high taxes; and yet, he’s guilty of allowing this?
Hi Everyone,
I am very diapointed to see Liberal attack ads showing outrage over Conservative attacks! Typical Liberal vs. Conservative mud flinging! I don’t like the Hudak or Jim’s attack ads or comments either!
I really do respect Elaine taking a position of stating facts and dealing with each situation professionally! This “old school” mafia type bullying, being preneted by the conservatives and the Liberals (such as on here), is out dated and boring! More like my Grandfather’s Liberal or Conservative government! Elaine just has too make sure she doesn’t come across as a teacher! People hate feeling like they are being talked down to like a child! Some teachers get stuck talking to peers and adults in the same manner in which they talk to their students and it becomes very offensive to intelligent people! I have personally felt this way when speaking to several retired teachers and it hard to mention it because it has become natural and these people really mean no harm! However, Elaine does a good job of filtering her comments! Congrats to Elaine for running a wonderful campaign to date!
I am not condoning either Candidate! I am a very proud Conservative but I do not condone Tim or Jim’s actions at times! However, the last two articles on this site are no better nor worse! I am also a proud supporter of the Cornwall Free News and Mark Macdonald but that doesn’t mean they are not infallible and nor am I or anyone on this site!
Personally, I have been watching all the candidates all year long and I am not impressed due to the amount of misinformation and false promises coming from all parties! However, I don’t beleive Dalton will win this election due to his tarnished reputation and the attention brought to the fact that he did promise no new taxes and then created too many new taxes and the HST; especially angered too many!
I believe the loss in support may be enough for the orange NDP wave to steal more seats then last election and for the conservatives to overtake the lead in many other ridings!
I hope Mark wins because he is a family friend, even though I am Conservative, but I really don’t trust McGuinty!
Thank You,
Mike Bedard
No-one trusts McGuinty and the Fiberals. He states that they will help students with their tuition fee’s which is great. He also states that they will give $10,000 to employers who hire an immigrant. Once our kids graduate who will give them a job?
This type of program has been in existence for decades. I myself have hired a new immigrant under these conditions. Previously the employer didn’t get any money and welfare or some social agency paid the workers for their time. It was a contract and the jobs are not permanent. The term of employment usually lasted about 3 months. Just long enough to give the person employed some Canadian employment experience. It was up to the employer if they wanted to hire the candidate permanently.
The only thing different here is that the money is going to the employer and not directly to the employee.
Mark has said in October 2010, that Cornwall is getting enough from our Provincial and Federal Governments. He also said we are a city in need and that poverty was a large issue and that the gap between the HAVE and HAVE NOT’s is widening!
Yet, this year Mark is saying the opposite and saying Ontario is leading the pack! More typical Liberal BS from the liars…sorry, I mean the McFiberal Government!
Sorry, NOT GETTING ENOUGH….
Steve, you are mixing up municiple concerns and provincial concerns. The municiple problems are more of a poor city management concern, not the problem of the provincial government. Our last MPP did an excellent job of stearing funds and services into all of SD&G.
I watched a few youtube videos from Mark’s campaign and it is pretty clear that the message went from we are a city of have nots that needs improvements to we are now a city that has great representation that is doing an amazing job! This is disheartening because it makes me feel like I need to “sell out” to get ahead!
Well maybe I am still too young and dumb to give up yet but it looks like a few people already have! Smart people aren’t fooled by the LHIN’s new announcements to save their jobs and the McGuinty has hung himself with the HST!
Liars should finish last and the devil wears red not blue in this case! Hudak may not be the best but cuts need to be made now or we are a doomed province! The debt countinues to be accumulated with not end in sight!
I am speaking of McGuinty and Hudak when I refer to the devil; not Jim or Mark! I can’t state how much I wish Mark was a Conservative but hey I respect him anyways and hope he wins …..however, not McGuinty!
That’s kind of funny Mike. In my riding, Leeds Grenville, we’ve had ONLY Conservative MPPs for over seventy years! There’s never a serious contest in a provincial election here. You’re fortunate to have a high quality candidate running in this election even if you think he’s with the wrong party.
I feel for the seniors and people on fixed incomes with any extra cost thrust on us, however Sue talks about the increase as if it is thousands of dollars.This 3,000 dollar water bill divided by 8 tenants is 375 dollars a year. Replacement wells are probably in the 7 – 10,000 dollar range but with muncipal water you do not have your electric pump to pay for, and get better insurance rates.
South and North Glengarry have been working on a water pipeline project since what, 2009. The province has chipped in already so people can get clean water from Cornwall, through Martintown and up through Alexandria. There will also be some pipe relining, which is not cheap.
South Glengarry should be sending out a press release on this at least, but I see they are tied up deciding on bilingual signs…..
Yes Eric, as a matter of fact not one of the councilors, mayor, or deputy mayor have responded to our email requests to them on Friday. Sometimes it’s more than partisanship. The issue isn’t the cost or the needs of water system, but the manner in which Mayor McFuddle is ramming this through…
You think maybe some people don’t want to respond because they feel your web-site personal attacks them? If you placed articles about me like you did about Jim McDonell I wouldn’t respond to you either becasue it is more professional to do so!
However, we will never hopefully have that problem because me and Jamie seem to have fun discussing topics disagreeing respectfully!
Mike, the free holder editors refer to the government as McFiberals. Do you really think they would not reply to a request for comment on a major issue? No sir. That’s simply either being a coward or having something to hide. Mr. McFuddle is playing from the Guy Lauzon play book regarding CFN. It doesn’t look any better on him than it does on our MP. If you believe in what you say and what you stand for there’s never a reason to hide.
I have to agree with Mike Bedard on this one Jamie. I feel that your not making it any easier for Jim McDonell to respond. It seems like you have a vendetta or an axe to grind. Lighten up a bit.
Hi Tammy,
I don’t think my stories are anywhere close the venom that another local tosses at our current government and Premier. I can’t see you for example foisting a 300% water tax increase on the residents of South Stormont in such a manner, and I bet if you did you wouldn’t hide but answer for yourself as you’re a stand up person and politician.
My email to any party, as I’m sure you’ve seen personally is always polite and professional. If Mayor McDonell has such thin skin that he won’t respond to the number one ranked online news media in this region then maybe he shouldn’t be mayor or a politician? My email regarding the by law was addressed to the Deputy mayor as well as the councilors and Water and Waste Water manager.
I’m sure to the seniors, residents, and property owners they’d like an explanation as to why their Mayor is trying to sneak through this tax increase while running for MPP under a lowering the taxes platform? Aren’t you?
I don’t want to hijack this thread, but I have a quick question for Tammy. Have you asked Tim Hudak what he’s going to do about the bilingual signs, and French invasion of Ontario?
If so, what was his response?