Ditch Infilling

We will see on January 18th but looks like the 10% charge will be eliminated.

Ditch infilling charge should stay: Summerside committee
MIKE CARSON Transcontinental Media
SUMMERSIDE — Over the protests of nearly 80 Summerside residents, city council’s technical services committee is recommending a 10 per cent co-pay charge for ditch infilling be maintained.Committee members Couns. Brent Gallant and Vance Bridges voted to keep the charge while committee chairman Coun. Ron Dowling voted to eliminate the fee.The protest raised by residents hadn’t changed from previous debates with city councillors nor had the reasons elected officials offered to support their stands either in favour of the levy or against it.Several residents complained that the former town of Summerside has benefited from increased taxes charged to property owners since St. Eleanors, Wilmot and Sherbrooke were amalgamated in 1995.St. Eleanors resident Ray Howatt said his property taxes went from $700 a year to $2,500 a year since amalgamation but the services he receives haven’t really changed. He said with the extra money the city has collected from all the amalgamated communities since 1995 the city can certainly afford to undertake the entire cost of ditch infilling and not burden those from the former communities with an additional tax.Others raised issues of safety surrounding unfilled ditches and the dangers these pose to children in the area. They claimed public safety is a city responsibility and not one that should be forced on a few property owners.Complaints were also lodged over the amount of time the city is taking in getting the job done. Barry Copeland, also of St. Eleanors, said 16 years have passed since amalgamation and his ditch is still there. Copeland, a real estate agent, didn’t buy the claim by some councillors that property values will increase by thousands of dollars when ditches are infilled.Coun. Vance Bridges said without the additional 10 per cent income it will be difficult to get the job done.“My problem is if we vote this 10 per cent down we’re going to have a long, long time of uncertainty and the youngest person in here will probably not see any ditch infilling for a long, long time,” he said. “What we have to go through in order to be fair to those who have paid under the present system is to refund them and charge you nothing. And so I think in most cases what you are going to see is nothing.”Coun. Brent Gallant continued his contention that the city coffers will suffer if the $200,000 anticipated to be received through the remaining ditch infilling program projects is collected. He said that money will have to be made up in other ways through either cuts in services, no new services or property tax rate increases.Gallant reiterated his claim that in the old town of Summerside, property owners paid 50 per cent of the cost and that policy was changed to 10 per cent ten years ago. He said he saw no reason to change it now.City council will finally decide the issue on Monday, Jan. 18, at the January council meeting. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.
Council's stand:
Coun. Ron Dowling: eliminate the tax;Coun. Cory Thomas: eliminate the tax;Coun. Garth Lyle: eliminate the tax;Deputy Mayor Bruce MacDougall: eliminate the tax;Coun. Brent Gallant: maintain the tax;Coun. Vance Bridges: maintain the tax;Coun. Norma McColeman: maintain the tax;Coun. Barry Chappell: didn't commit;Mayor Basil Stewart: eliminate the tax.