Kincardine tying up loose ends this year, says mayor
By Liz Dadson

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Kincardine mayor Larry Kraemer  

This year, Kincardine will be tying up loose ends and completing projects, prior to the municipal election Oct. 25.

That's the word from mayor Larry Kraemer who says 2009 was a good year, with a lot of work started, thanks to the infrastructure funding from the provincial and federal governments.

 "We started the Kincardine Community Medical Clinic expansion and we saw one addition at the Davidson Centre completed, while another one - the new gymnasium - is under way," he says. "We're getting the work done with two-thirds funding and we've certainly taken advantage of it."

He admits it's hard on the reserves of the municipality, but when you can spend one dollar and get two dollars from the federal and provincial governments, it makes sense to proceed.

Last year, saw the completion of St. Andrews Park in Tiverton, says Kraemer. Other projects under way are the refurbishment of the exterior of the Kincardine Arts Centre (old town hall); new washrooms at Connaught Park; the first phase of the municipal signage program; the Community Plan; Huron Ridge road work; and Inverhuron water and sewer work.

"There will be a lot of activity in 2010," he says. "It'll be a busy year as the municipality accomplishes all the work it began, and that's appropriate in the final year of a council. In our first two years, we were getting organized and planning projects; now, we're finishing them. We're getting this municipality in good shape for the next council."

Workshops were held last year with public input for the Community Plan, says Kraemer, and that will culminate with a report in the next month or so. The medical clinic addition will be completed this summer, and then the next phase will proceed.

And the municipality just had a presentation by the president and chief executive officer of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre and his consultants regarding a redevelopment of the Kincardine hospital site. "We'll be looking at local fund-raising and the municipality's place in all of that," Kraemer says. "The health centre and the hospital foundation have money for this and we have about $1.2-million to $1.5-million in reserves for health care."

Kincardine faces some challenges, says the mayor, including whether to acquire the infrastructure (water and sewer) at the Bruce Energy Centre. "A report is coming to council soon, with all the legal agreements required," he says. "We want to have that before we sit down for budget talks (in March)."

Health care was a difficult issue last year and continues to be, says Kraemer. "Particularly with the hospital, we had a group upset about the governance and loss of services. We were trying, with no power, to move things forward. The hospital board, itself, is working toward a better communication system. They're serious about improving governance of the Kincardine hospital."

Besides a year for completing projects, 2010 will be a year of lobbying the province for support of the hospital redevelopment and getting the process started, says Kraemer.

He also says there will be a major announcement about post-secondary education, with courses offered at the former Westario Power building, through the Lake Huron Learning Collaborative. "We're also in discussions with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) about potential funding," he says. "In a couple of weeks, we'll have some solid announcements coming out."

Kraemer says the roads budget will likely be reduced due to the constant funding challenges. And Kincardine can expect smaller dividends from Bruce Telecom for the next year or two as the telephone company faces challenges of its own.

Decreases in provincial funding, through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund, place a lot of pressure on the budget, says Kraemer. "We're losing $400,000 this year, and the entire $621,000 next year."

He says the municipality has held up well despite the recession in the global economy. "Other areas were more directly affected, but our people were still affected by reduced savings due to the changes in the stock market," he says.

While council looks at a stringent budget this year, its staff just received a two-per-cent increase in pay this year and another two-per-cent next year.

Kraemer says the municipality wanted a two-year agreement, otherwise, it would be negotiating at the time of the municipal election. "That required more flexibility on our part," he says. "It's very bare bones in the tripartite agreement which includes the chief administrative officer, senior management and non-management workers."

As for council remuneration, he says that will likely come up during budget discussions. "Personally, I could live with a zero increase," he says. "Council only ever takes the cost-of-living increase."

For this year, the mayor hopes that all the projects under way are finished or almost completed by the end of council's term. "We're in year four of a four-year term and that's the right thing to do. We'll have a conservative budget this year because we face some real challenges - we're looking at a 16-per-cent tax increase just to have the same budget as last year. We'll see minimal spending in the budget and no new projects.

"We're still a wealthy municipality with regard to reserves. We were fortunate that for the projects we started we had money in reserves. Now, we can get them done with less money spent. That will help conserve what we have."

Kraemer has not made a decision yet whether he will run for re-election as head of council. "I have to talk to my family and I have a business to run," he says. "I have to give it some thought."

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Sunday, January 24, 2010