The View from my Window

Deep River - Musings

September 14, 2003 on 6:54 pm | In Deep River | Comments Off

    

                                                                                                  Sept 14^th 2003

 
Burning Issue for the upcoming Council

 
The issues facing the upcoming Council are many but the most burning one, to my mind, is to reduce the property taxes. For this town to grow we need to attract new businesses, retirees and new people coming to work with Chalk River Laboratories and Canadian Forces Base. This year we saw a hefty increase in taxes. This is opposite to what needs to be done for growth.

 
I have this feeling that many of our long time residents are financially comfortable and live in houses bought many years ago. Thus they probably do not feel the impact of tax increases. But this is only temporary, as the increase in taxes will impact our lives in many ways in the years to come. The telltale signs are there. We have no competition for groceries in Town and there are empty stores in downtown. This leads to shopping in Pembroke or Ottawa!

 
We need Council members who are focused on this issue. Only this focus will lead to review of the Town mandate and core services to be provided.

 
Is enough being done to amalgamate services with other adjoining communities? For example, do we need an independent Fire Department? What benefits do we derive from having an Economic Development Department? How much to beautify Deep River and what are the economic benefits of this expenditure?  Why the Council gets involved in buying/owning properties?  How many properties does Town own and operate? For what use, the Town needs a Web site? Do our Town staff complement compares with, say, Petawawa Township or similar Town?

 
I am sure all this has been looked at before. But it would help to have a fresh look by a new elected team, which is not beholden to past.

 
 
Pravin Shah

Iraq is India’s war, not its battle

September 13, 2003 on 9:33 am | In Writings by Others | Comments Off