Under two percent tax hike council aim

During the May 15th South Dundas council meeting, councillor Evonne Delegarde submitted three requests from the Bluegrass Festival Committee.

The requests included the borrowing or renting of chairs as well as the use of the Iroquois Campsite showers and dumping station.

It was estimated that there would be 70 to 80 campers ‘rough camping’ at the Bluegrass Festival, which takes place June 15th to the 17th at the Iroquois Locks.

 Mayor Steven Byvelds reminded council that the committee had submitted a request at budget time for $10,000 and were granted $3,000 from the township.

He also pointed out that “we had this request last year and denied it.”

Chief administrative officer Stephen McDonald pointed out that there is a grants policy and “I don’t think this group just thought of this request today. I think it was purposefully not given to staff.”

In terms of the shower request, Councillor Jim Graham said, “people pay to camp there. It’s not fair.”

Delegarde suggested there might be a fee for showering.

Deputy-mayor Jim Locke said, “I don’t think we’re supporting our tourism by not allowing dumping. You’re not going to have them lined up.”

Clerk Brenda Brunt pointed out that there is no staff working on Sunday afternoons.

“I do see a line up,” said Byvelds. “I don’t like getting last minute requests. It’s not fair to council and it’s not fair to staff.”

As for the paying campers at the Iroquois Campsite, Byvelds said, “it’s not going to be an enjoyable experience for them.”

In the end, it was decided that there weren’t any chairs sufficient to the task. It was also decided that allowing the showers to be used would be too much of an inconvenience to campers at the Iroquois Campsite. The request to allow dumping, however, was approved.

[…]

“You don’t have to go far from home to hear great music,” said Bev Anderson of Brockville, just one of the fans who turned out for the 5th Annual Upper Canada  Bluegrass Festival held at Upper Canada Campground September 16-18.

Hosted by campground owners David and Ruth Wells, with the musical talent organized by Mike Anderson, over 110 campers and  a large number of day visitors came out to enjoy some of the best bluegrass music around. “We had great weather all weekend,” Wells said, “and there are a lot of die hard fans for bluegrass out there. The people who come to these events are terrific.”

Although Wells reported that numbers were somewhat down from other years, due, he thought to the economy and high gas prices, it was an exciting two day event.

“It’s been a great turn-out,” said Terry Joe Banjo, who acted as emcee for the festival, performed with a number of groups and staged workshops throughout the weekend. “We had eight good bands performing. A lot of exciting music here.”

Mike Anderson, who performed with his own band Northwind, organized the musical line-up,  and felt it had been an excellent festival. “We had a lot of support. The workshops in instruments like guitar, banjo and mandolin also drew many people. No question, top performers love to run workshops and share their skills and knowledge.

That’s what’s so great about bluegrass.”

Bands performing included Hard Ryde, Grassland, Dave Nichols & Spare Change, Jan Purcell & Pine Road, Bill White & White Pine, Concession 23, Northwind and Maple Hill.

[…]

 “Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has not taste,” wrote Charlotte Bronte.

Returning home to 2011, the Iroquois Lawn-Bowling Club (ILBC) has agreed to share their clubhouse with the neighbouring Iroquois Campsite, hopefully to the benefit and happiness of both.

At the November 1st South Dundas council meeting, Clerk Brenda Brunt reported on the current status of the situation saying, “I was asked to meet with the lawn-bowling club. The campsite is right there and they’d like to use it.”

She told council that the ILBC doesn’t “have any problems” with the request. They would, however, “just like something in return.”

Brunt reported that her “only problem with the building is that it’s not wheelchair accessible,” which means that the “washrooms are not accessible.”

As it turns out, the building in question belongs, in fact, to the township. Council quickly decided that the Iroquois Campsite should be authorized to share the space with the ILBC.

As for the requests from ILBC, Mayor Steven Byvelds said they would deal with the financial request in 2012 as they really need to consider how they’re going to move forward with such a large request.

ILBC is asking for monetary help with the upkeep of their greens and floodlights, as well as probable updates to the clubhouse building.

[…]