Guelph-Eramosa council has approved a new fees and charges bylaw, but most of the items contained therein remained unchanged.
All charges for administration and planning items will maintain the status quo, as per a 2011 bylaw, and the only change in the finance department is a new $20 charge to have the township add certain unpaid charges to a tax bill.
In the public works department, the changes include adding a $50 charge for repeat entrance permit inspections for homes and businesses that fail the first inspection. For residential entrances, the $1,000 deposit and $150 initial fee remains unchanged, while the total cost (deposit plus fee) for a business entrance permit will decrease from $2,600 to $2,250 in order to be “more on par with other municipalities.”
Changes in parks and recreation charges include:
– adding Sunday to the premium rate for hall rentals, which vary by site;
– increasing all rates each year to correspond with the Consumer Price Index;
– removing half-field rentals at the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre (RDAPC) in Marden;
– introducing a fee of $65 per hour for school field trip rentals of the RDAPC; and
– creating an off-season fee of $83/hour for rental of the RDAPC field.
One of the main charges in the fire department is a 33 per cent increase, from $60 to $80, in the fee for copies of fire department reports. The township is also increasing by 17% the fee charged to non-residents found to be at fault for vehicle collisions (from $350 to $410 per hour per fire department vehicle responding). Those “at fault” can be forced to pay 25, 50 or 100% of the fee.
The same 17% increase (from $350 to $410 per hour per fire department vehicle) was applied to the fee for calls to fires that do not conform to the municipality’s regulations for setting fires. The increase also applies to the third call for malfunctioning or deliberately-activated fire alarm. Council unanimously approved the new fees and charges bylaw on Jan. 20 with little discussion.
