Port Theatre fundraiser Sharon & Bram will be in Cornwall for two shows on Saturday as part of a spe- cial fundraising effort for the venerable Port Theatre. There will be a show at 1 p.m. and another at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at Melody Music and the Port Theatre box office. Snowflake and Bazaar Luncheon The auxiliary to the St. Joseph’s Con- tinuing Care Centre will hold its annual Snowflake and Bazaar Luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 14 York Street. There will be tables with crafts, books, gifts, flowers, Christmas items and a bake sale. There will be a lun- cheon of soups, sandwiches and dessert from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Journée de porte ouverte SNAP Cornwall tiendra une journée de porte ouverte le 22 novembre de 16h00 à 20h00. La compagnie fera la promotion de son programme pour aider les enfants ayant des problèmes de comportement. L’événement se tiendra au 55, rue Water Ouest, suite LL50. Baldwin House fundraiser There will be fundraising garage sale, bake sale and silent auction on Dec, 1 and 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Benson Centre in Cornwall. All proceeds will go to Maison Baldwin House. Journey to Christmas “Our Journey to Christmas” advent ser- vice, sponsored by the Lost Villages His- torical Society, will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2 in the Sandtown Advent Christian Church at the Lost Villages Mu- seum. Email jim.brownell@yahoo.ca to reserve your places. Festival de La Pitoune Le 23 novembre, l’École secondaire catholique La Citadelle tiendra son fes- tival annuel de La Pitoune. L’événement vise à faire mousser l’esprit d’école. Les élèves de la septième à la douzième an- née participeront au festival. Ce dernier se tiendra de 9h20 à 14h15 au 510, av- enue McConnell, gymnase 142. Girl Guide cookies The 17th Cornwall Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers will be selling chocolatey mint Girl Guide cook- ies on Nov. 30 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Food Basics at the Brookdale Centre. Email your coming events to lyse. emond@eap.on.ca. // Envoyez vos événe- ments à lyse.emond@eap.on.ca. communautaire Le lien community link The
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City to borrow $10.4M to pay for Benson Centre
He also argued it would be less costly for the city to borrow from the Progress Fund principal and then repay it. The Progress Fund is earning around two per cent interest annually, said Maureen Adams, the city’s finance manager. The city will pay a 3.4 per cent interest on its loan for the sports facility. Adams also stressed that using Progress Fund interest to repay the Benson Centre loan will limit council’s ability to react to any unforeseen finan- cial liabilities. Clement said she was disappointed the city didn’t at least evaluate the potential savings of borrowing from Progress Fund principal and she warned that the loan commitment will dry up revenue for future city projects. She urged that city council have “a full discussion” around the use of the Progress Fund. Councillor Andre Rivette said a bylaw pro- hibiting the use of Progress Fund principal by city council is “pretty airtight”. Under the bylaw, a unanimous vote of council is needed to touch the fund’s prin- cipal. That would never happen because he would vote against such a proposal, Rivette said. Councillor Denis Thibault said there could be different ways to fund the city’s portion of the Benson Centre bill that would cost less. “But at the end of the day, there is a by- law in place.”
GREG KIELEC greg.kielec@eap.on.ca
The Progress Fund is safe – for now. Cornwall city council has decided not to use the principal from the city’s vaunted Progress Fund to pay for its new multisport complex. Instead it will borrow $10.4 million over
15 years to pay for the Benson Centre in the city’s west end and use inter- est generated from the Progress Fund to cover the loan payments. Councillor Denis
“It’s going to tie up the Progress fund over the next 15 years.”
Photo Greg Kielec
Mike van der Jagt, of the Canadian Rac- ing Pigeon Union, listens to a council member after his presentation arguing against the city’s ban on pigeon fanciers last Tuesday night. Pigeon ban causes flap at city hall Don’t ever tell pigeon owners not to have a bird. That may be the lesson for Cornwall city council after racing pigeon fanciers flocked to city hall last night to protest a ban on their birds. With a gallery of supporters behind him, Mike van der Jagt of the Canadian Racing Pigeon Union convinced council at last Tuesday’s meeting to review its decision to outlaw the birds. City council sent “shockwaves” through the racing pigeon community when it re- cently decided to ban the birds over health concerns, van der Jagt said. The manner in which the manner was handled by the city elicited an apology from Councillor Elaine MacDonald after the presentation by van der Jagt. “I think we made a mistake so I want to apologize to all the birders out there,” Mac- Donald said. But she said administration’s “ignorance” on the issue was not totally its fault, be- cause staff did not know of the existence of racing pigeon organization. Van der Jagt said there are virtually no diseases passed to humans from the birds and argued they are less of a health concern than other domesticated animals like dogs and cats.
Carr had argued the city should borrow from the principal of the fund to avoid $3.6 million in interest costs. And Councillor Ber- nadette Clement argued that city should have at least examined the option of using the principal. But council opted at its meeting last Tues- day, to follow the administration’s recom- mendation to borrow the money instead. The city has a bylaw in place protecting the principal of the fund, created through the sale of Cornwall Electric to Enbridge Inc. for $68 million in 1998. Enbridge sold the utility to Fortis Inc. in 2002 for $67 million. “It’s going to tie up the Progress fund over the next 15 years,”argued Carr, who rhymed off a number of high profile city projects that have benefitted from the fund’s rev- enue generation.
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