Aurora
November 27, 2008 09:02 PM
Sean Pearce
Aurora’s windrow clearing program is a go, and just in time for the snow.
The decision made by council Tuesday paves the way for the pilot project that will be offered to Aurora seniors and residents living with a disability at a cost of $70 per household. That figure represents full cost recovery of the program and is about half the cost originally proposed for the service.
The town’s public works department deferred hiring a new employee to administer the new program, which brought down the cost.
Still, not everyone agreed to new cost was low enough.
“I would hope, madam mayor, that we have as much care for our old people as we have for (other) people,” Councillor Evelyn Buck said. “I think we can justify charging this to the general tax revenue and, as the only senior at this table, I’d like to ask council to reconsider.”
Her suggestion to reopen the debate yet again was met with a chilly reception from other members of council.
Aurora’s program was priced in a similar ballpark as those offered in Oakville, Whitby and Oshawa, Councillor Stephen Granger said, while Councillor John Gallo said it only made sense to recover the entire cost of the pilot program as it was not included in the 2008 budget.
In future, he said, it may make sense for the town to fully subsidize the program.
Councillor Alison Collins-Mrakas amendment the motion to state the town would consider this.
“We’ve tried to come up with a cost-effective program quickly and this was the compromise,” Mayor Phyllis Morris said. ”We didn’t budget for it this year and I hope no one ever says we turned our backs on the seniors. We haven’t.”
Council’s decision didn’t sit well with some seniors in attendance.
The town’s tax revenue should pay for the program, not individual seniors, Don Zecchino said.
“A more applicable charge would be free and pass it around the whole town,” he said.
Marie Leone said council was being shortsighted by focusing on the 2008 budget as only a single month remained, agreeing the town should bear the cost of windrow clearing.
Most, however, said they accepted the compromise.
“It’s a pilot project and they didn’t have it in the budget, so we’ll pay that $70 for now,” Aurora Seniors Association president Charles Sequeira said. “In the spring, it will be evaluated, hopefully with the understanding it should be brought into the budget.”
For more information on the windrow program or to register: call 905-727-3123, ext. 3447; or
visit
e-aurora.ca