A paper document titled “Whitewater’s New Development Charge By-law will Cost YOU!” was taped to doors around Cobden and other parts of the Whitewater Region, protesting the charges and the reductions recommended by Watson and Associates.
The Whitewater news asked for responses on its Facebook page, and received several.
“We’re seriously concerned that our taxes, dump fees and water/sewage will be even more affected by the development.” Joanne Swartz said on the Whitewater News Facebook page. We were shocked at the hike in our water/sewage fee and felt, if necessary, the increase should have been made gradually. The dump fee tripled in 12 months. How is all of this fair to the current residents?”
“Elected officials should also have to give advance notice of any fees that are imposed on us. We were told to go to their website for any information.” Gail Davidson said. “A lot of our seniors do not have computers and do not engage in the internet.”
During the May 5th council meeting, Councillor Nicholson asked if the staff could amplify the Development Charge FAQ and asked if it had received much feedback from the community.
“We did receive quite a number of emails regarding the Development Charges.” Planner Ivan Burton said. “While we haven’t received many responses to our replies to these emails, we did receive some emails back saying that they wished they’d had access to this information before, and that now they’re in support of the Development Charges.” he said.
“There’s a lot of misinformation about this out there.” CAO Trembley said. “I think it clarified a lot of issues.”
Mayor Moore commented that “The calls have stopped.”
“I will encourage it for future complex issues.” Councillor Nicholson said.
