Bancroft this Week

The birds and saving the bees

One summer bees moved onto our property. A half dozen beautiful, intricate honeycomb nests dotted a portion of our forests.

Quarry application well underway

Freymond Lumber Ltd. hosted a public information session March 20 for its proposed quarry in Faraday township. Those who attended could inquire on analyses by consultants on visual, hydrogeological, natural environment, archaeological, traffic, blasting and noise impacts to the area and its residents. With the information session complete, the public and agencies can submit letters of support or objection to MNRF until April 3.

Hastings Highlands approves new voting practices

Hastings Highlands council has decided council will be elected at-large in 2018. Also see: Capital budget approved; Council increases grant transparency; and Council creates committees.

Spring is here

And…Time. Someone call it. Winter is officially over. It’s spring! It’s cloudy and dreary and wet outside the office window today, March 21, but I couldn’t care less. It’s minus 1 degree out right now and I might never wear my winter coat again.

Martin family receives forestry legacy award

The Bancroft Area Forest Industry Association is celebrating 2017 by honouring one of the oldest forest industry families in the area.

Council finishes operating budget

Municipal staff has drafted a more than $8.7 million operating budget for Hastings Highlands. It includes a small tax increase. Council held public consultations for the operating budget March 8. The operating budget stands apart from the municipality’s capital budget, which will be released later this month.

System must change: consultant

Hastings Highlands council met with consultants Gary Davidson and Beate Bowron March 9 to see what could be done to equalize voter parity in Hastings Highlands — Ward 3 has less than half the population of Ward 1 but has the same number of council seats. It was petitioned to change its electoral system to at-large voting, or rework its ward boundaries, in early January. According to consultants, petitioners have fair grounds to call upon the Ontario Municipal Board to make council change its electoral system. If council does nothing, the board would most likely hold a hearing if the petition was submitted.

When needs become commodities

In 2016, Hastings Prince Edward District School Board paid $6,400 for York River Public School and $13,500 for North Hastings High School for wastewater. The Algonquin and Lakeshore District School Board related that Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School paid $3,750 for wastewater.

Fatal fentanyl reaches Hastings Prince Edward

Illegal fentanyl has been identified in Hastings and Prince Edward counties. Hastings Prince Edward Public Health has released that fentanyl and other illicit drugs containing it have been found in and around the region. The health unit is warning that the drug could increase the rate of fatal overdoses.