Friday, February 7th, 2025

The Creemore Valley Hawks were the first to approach the podium at a Nov. 14 public meeting on the subject of the Clearview Township budget.

Ten-year-old Miles Dempsey could barely be seen behind the podium as he read the letter he wrote to council members. He was inspired to write after he heard on the radio something about the closure of the Creemore arena. During budget deliberations, Councillor Kevin Elwood had proposed taking a closer look at arena expenditures, given that usage is on the decline.

“I think hockey is what makes Creemore fun and the best place to live,” said Dempsey, surrounded by fellow hockey players, all wearing Creemore Valley Hawks jerseys. “If the Creemore arena closes we will never even have a home jersey! I don’t want to play for anyone except Creemore because it has the best spirit, it is small, we have awesome teammates and the best coaches.”

Elwood told the players he didn’t pick on Creemore but arenas are costly for the municipality. He said arenas don’t make any money and the municipality doesn’t necessarily look to make money from them but both arenas have declining revenue.

He said Dempsey’s comments would be taken into consideration but tax increases are part of providing services.

“Tell your parents and grandparents that you would support this budget,” said Elwood in reference to the 3.42 per cent increase in the municipal portion of taxes.

Councillor Thom Paterson told the team that decisions have not been made about the arenas.

“We will be skating and playing hockey in Creemore for some time,” he said. “One of you is either going to be an NHL star or a politician and I hope it’s an NHL star.”

The public had gathered Monday to hear about the proposed 2017 Clearview Township $39.4 million budget, which is composed of $26.1 million in operating expenses and $13.3 million in capital spending.

Although the budget reflects a 3.42 per cent increase in the municipal portion of taxes, the estimated overall increase would be more like 1.73 per cent once county and education taxes are factored in.

One person spoke in opposition to the numbers saying the true increase is several times the rate of inflation and that working in an estimated Simcoe County tax levy increase of one per cent, and an estimated school board decrease of one per cent is a “shell game”.

“This is simply not sustainable over a long period of time,” he said. “It is greater than what is justified.”

On the flipside, with fears of the arena closure assuaged, Ken Day asked council to give some consideration to making repairs to the bridge south of the new Collingwood Street Bridge. He said the crossing is being held together with road signs and the gravel is often washed away, rendering it nothing more than a corduroy road.

“I am asking for council’s attention, that it be replaced on a timely basis,” said Day.

Staff said the bridge was on the books but has been delayed due to a $2.2 million price tag. With many bridges coming up for maintenance, staff is looking for funding sources.

Also speaking to the proposed budget, Randy Lamers applauded a $20,000 expenditure for the New Lowell skateboard park project. The plan is to turn underutilized tennis courts into a skatepark and multi-use area. A volunteer group has been fundraising for the project and has collected more than $24,000.

Council will take another look at the budget during a Nov. 28 workshop before passing it some time in the spring.

The full budget package is available online at www.clearview.ca/home/budget.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *