Renfrew Town Council mulls over the operations side of their 2025 budget on April 1st.
Renfrew Town Council has not been shy about trimming every piece of fat from the first draft of their 2025 budget, leaving a few town staples in the lurch.
Councillors spent over five hours taking a fine comb through the operations side of the budget on Tuesday, slashing hundreds to thousands of dollars from dozens of items affecting virtually every department as they pushed to lower the impact on taxpayers who entered the day facing a 14.34% tax levy, according to Treasurer Charlene Jackson.
Most notably, the McDougall Mill Museum could be facing some significant changes after Councillor Clint McWhirter floated the idea of keeping its doors closed for the year and next as a working group looks into the future of the museum and potentially using the building for long-term projects along the waterfront.
The idea got mixed reviews, especially as council later wondered if they should even fill this summer’s student positions at the museum. Suggestions ranged from keeping a few on just to maintain the outside of the building to using the students to research the museum’s relics for possible historic acknowledgments elsewhere in town.
Meanwhile, another hot topic was the Bruce Street Landfill, as Manager of Environmental Services Amanda Springer had to balance a number of costly safety compliance issues, like the need to regrade the slopes of the currently too-steep garbage piles at the dump, with ongoing staffing concerns that she recently reported to staff.
She was able to secure a new lead hand position to act as both an operator and provide better oversight of the landfill, while also getting another staff member who will split time between them and public works.
Council will return to Town Hall for a second time this week on Friday, April 4th, as they go over the town’s capital projects to finish their first read of the 2025 budget.
(written by Kasey Egan)