By John Francis
Our Council — not to mention people who use the Tobermory Community Centre — have had a lot of discussions about the need for a town water system in Tobermory. It would cost millions. OK, tens of millions.
But without it, large areas of Tobermory’s Town Plot can’t get reliable water. Any individual can probably solve their own problem by punching their well deeper but all that does is dry up somebody else’s well that isn’t as deep.
The problem isn’t how deep the water is, it’s that there just isn’t enough water down there. Under that section of Tobermory the wells draw water faster than rain replenishes it — so the shallowest wells go dry.
The taxpayer picks up the tab to bring water up from Wiarton to service the community centre. Households and businesses are on their own.
I can sympathize; my own well goes dry if someone leaves a toilet running.
But the recent water main problems in Calgary are a reminder that it’s not just us that have a problem. Most of Canada’s cities have been underfunding the repair/renew/upgrade needs of their major infrastructure for decades and it’s just now coming around to bite them.
A respected Canadian think-tank recently estimated that the infrastructure communities need is increased by an average of $105,000 for each new home. That is: roads, schools, libraries, water mains, sewers, increased capacity of water and sewage processing plants — everything. $105,000 per new build.
Using that math, if MNBP’s housing stock were to increase by 30 homes per year, the infrastructure needed would be $3,150,000 per year. In a municipality with an annual budget of under $8 million…
This would require a roughly 40% increase in property taxes, or else a development charge of $105,000 per new build. I do not suggest either of these be implemented; I’m merely offering this as a lens for understanding our current predicament.
Given that statistic, it is no surprise that our municipality has been unable to undertake any major initiatives for the last 20 years (other than boasting that we have the lowest tax rates…)
Forty-plus years ago, the arena in Lion’s Head was built. Thirty-five years ago, Tobermory got a new community centre. Twenty years ago, Lion’s Head got a new water system. Since then: nothing. All three of those projects received heavy contributions from the feds and province. Since then we have had only small grants from the province and feds (and even less from the county). But they also represented major commitments at a municipal level.
Our communities have grown in recent decades. The new community facilities proposed for Lion’s Head and Tobermory aren’t luxuries; they just bring us back to a level of service we had 30 years ago when we had smaller community buildings and fewer residents using them,
Our Mayor has encouraged Council to put money aside for future capital projects. He was able to secure only 1% for this year. But it’s a start.
There are so many things our communities need, large and small. For example, as we were reminded last Friday, Tobermory needs a heli-pad for medical evacuations…
Orange Med-evac Helicopter Transports 13-year-old Girl Injured in Cliff Jumping Accident at Grotto
