Greetings Everyone. Well we are already well into spring from the winter that really never showed. If you are at all like me, the lack of snow and cold weather was not missed. I am a three season person at best.

It was busy at City Hall this winter and we had another successful Town Hall Meeting on January 17th. Thank you to all of you who take that little bit of extra interest by attending and offering your thoughts and input on how the City and Council are performing.

École Sir John A. Macdonald Public School, the new school under construction in Kingston East, will be the site of a $250,000 outdoor athletic and recreational facility that will benefit students and the greater community for years to come.

Thanks to a generous $252,000 grant from the Pittsburgh Community Benefit Fund (PCBF), the Kingston East Elementary School Outdoor Equipment Project is ready to go. This playground development is one of the largest single funding partnerships ever supported by the PCBF since its inception. Trustees of the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) unanimously approved the partnership at its regular Board meeting on March 7.

With regret, I was unable to attend the Town Hall meeting 17 January 2012 arranged by our councillor, Brian Reitzel. I applaud him for doing so and hope that he continues this practice in the months and potentially years to come.

I take exception, however, to the constant what I consider lame excuses for the levying of property taxes that exceed the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases. I am first a retired soldier (35 years) and secondly a retired businessman (12 years) who had to deal with and been responsible for financial statements on a regular basis. In each case I had a budget with which to plan the way ahead and, as a businessman, would have had to declare bankruptcy had I imposed price increases the way in which Kingston Council has imposed property tax increases on her citizens. MPAC is a joke in that this organization has no idea what my home is worth and will not until the day I sell it. Therefore, basing the levying of taxes in part on an MPAC assessment is clearly false.

I am writing this to you to bring you up-to-date on a matter that may have an impact on you, your safety and that of your children, the environment and wildlife.

Yesterday, as I walked to my mailbox on Gore Road, I saw a family with two toddlers, who were walking their Golden Retriever. I listened to the bird sounds, and noticed a deer in a neighbour’s yard. Often times at any given time of day, Gore Road is enjoyed by many families and their children, joggers, walkers, cyclists, and their pets. The pathway ends on Gore Road, and many people park their cars on Gore to enter the pathway which meanders along Butternut Creek.

Grant Program For Student Entrepreneurs
The Summer Company Program is open for business! Students between the ages of 15-29 years could receive grants up to $3,000 to start their own business. Summer Company is sponsored by the Government of Ontario and administered in the Kingston area by The Entrepreneurship Centre at the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO). Participants will receive one-on-one business training and be matched with area business mentors