April 2, 2011

THE OBSERVER

» Saturday, April 02, 2011

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1421 King St. North

Downtown St. Jacobs

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Getting to the core of their business > STORY ON PG. 15

VOLUME.....16 ISSUE..........13

SATURDAY, APRIL 02, 2011

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Woolwich taxes to rise by 2.44%

Township happy with Lunor deal Steve Kannon

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> SEE SUBDIVISION ON PG. 02

Council approves budget; spending increases add $13 to average resident's tax bill

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» JAMES JACKSON

Kings draw first blood in series against Listowel.

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massive new subdivision in the northwest part of Elmira will go ahead as planned, complete with an extension of Barnswallow Drive and land for a potential new fire hall. Following a report from senior planner John Scarfone, Woolwich councillors were satisfied the township reached a good deal with Lunor Group despite a presentation last week from another developer that has appealed the project to the Ontario Municipal Board. Councillors were not swayed by Hawk Ridge Homes’ claims more parkland should be provided in the subdivision. Typically, a developer provides five per cent of the property to the municipality for parkland. Sometimes that’s taken as cash in lieu of land. In this case, the township will only get 2.8 per cent formally, but when a new

SO IT BEGINS Sugar Kings forward Spencer MacCormack celebrates after scoring the tying goal in the first period of Elmira’s 4-1 win over the Listowel Cyclones in game-one of the Cherrey Cup on Wednesday night at the WMC. See page 18 for game story.

WEEKEND WEATHER

SATURDAY

Variable Cloudiness

6°

SUNDAY

Variable Cloudiness

7°

Steve Kannon

oolwich residents will pay 2.44 per cent more in township taxes this year, adding $13.31 to the average home valued at $225,000. Councillors finalized the 2011 budget Tuesday night, wrapping up deliberations that began last fall under the previous term of council. The recreation and facilities budget proved the most contentious – the department had cost overruns of Opinion...............10 Business.............13

APR. 1st-16th

Est. 1940

> SEE TAXES ON PG. 02

Living Here..........15 Sports................18

10OFF Introducing Mephisto Sandals! %

$550,000 last year – as staff juggled money to cover a 9.4 per cent increase in that area while keeping the overall hike to 2.44. With the various operating budgets out of the way, councillors finally tackled the bigticket items on the capital spending side. This year’s budget includes a relatively modest slate of infrastructure projects, scaled down from the past couple of years when stimulus money was flowing from Ot-

Classifieds.........24

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