Municipal Website: Which provides information on a variety of topics of interests to our community. Under “Upcoming Events” on the main page is a calendar listing activities. We encourage our local service groups, churches, etc. to contact our office and have your events added to the calendar in order to better promote all of the activities Magnetawan has to offer.
Recreation Supervisor: Joining us for the summer as our Recreation Supervisor is Jesse Winger. Jesse is pursuing a Bachelor of Physical Education / Bachelor of Education degree and will be entering Teachers College in the fall. He will be responsible for the development and coordination of the municipality’s special events, recreation and leisure programs. Much of the success of these events is dependent on the efforts of volunteers. Please contact Jesse at the municipal office (387-3947) or at
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if you are able to help or have an idea for an event. Be sure to check the calendar on the municipal website for events.
Shop Local: When visiting our local businesses look for the “Local Love for the Villages of Almaguin” poster. Participating businesses in the municipalities of Magnetawan, Kearney, Perry, McMurrich/Monteith and Burks Falls are taking part and look forward to showing you what they have to offer. With each $25.00 spent at a participating business you receive a ballot for a draw to win gift baskets made up of local goods. In addition to the chance of winning you are supporting local businesses, local jobs, vital public services and enhancing the municipality in which you live.
Public Works: The municipality operates utilizing our approved Asset Management Plan which is a series of planned actions designed to sustain prescribed levels of service. Best management practices such as a “preservation management approach” for roads form part of this strategy. All roads, whether gravel or surface treated, have a life cycle. It has been consistently proven that preventative maintenance offers significant cost savings over the “fix it once it is broken” approach to a road network. Any one driving around the municipality cannot help but notice the road work being done by our Public Works crew and local contractors. Our gravel roads program involves a three year cycle in which every road will have gravel applied at least once during the cycle. Roads that are not gravelled the previous year are reviewed and those most in need are then targeted. This year approximately 17,000 tonnes of gravel will be applied. Our largest project for 2016 is the work being done on Nipissing Road South and Ahmic Lake Road. These roads, a total of 28 kilometers, will receive significant preparatory work and then a new surface treatment of tar and chip. The initial work being done is the digging out of organics from beneath the current road bed in many areas. This will aid in reducing frost heaves and will extend the life of the roads. In addition existing culverts are being replaced with plastic culverts which are estimated to have a 75 year life. All of this work must be completed before August 2nd which is when the contractor is to begin laying the new tar and chip surface. The municipality would have preferred to have this work done in the fall when the roads are less travelled however temperature has an effect on the quality of the final product.
The end of September is considered to be the latest date for such work to be completed or the life expectancy of the road is compromised. Please watch out for our crews and obey the flag persons.
Magnetawan Fire Department: As you drive into our community please be sure and check the fire rating signs. These are for your and your neighbours’ safety. Regardless of the rating all fires must be attended with the means to extinguish immediately if requested. No fires are permitted if winds are greater than 20 kilometers per hour. The following definitions explain what each rating means:
LOW - Normal Burning including brush all day. Fire no larger than 2 meters in height or diameter, clean wood only.
MODERATE - Normal Burning evening only. 2 hours prior to sunset. Out 2 hours after sunrise. Recreation fires or cooking and warmth in a controlled burn pit or fire ring no larger than 1 meter.
HIGH - All Normal or Brush burning suspended. Recreation or cook and warmth evening only. 2 hour rule applies.
EXTREME - All open air fires suspended.
Our biggest fire safety issue is smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms. CO alarms are the top non-compliance found in our community. Carbon Monoxide is also one of the leading causes of death. The department had 2 calls in the last year where the levels were high enough that if the occupants of the house had been sleeping or not had alarms they would not have survived.
Finance: Of interest to our citizens is where their municipal tax dollars flow. The chart below details the breakdown of the 2016 draft budget. This year, municipal capital costs are $2,870,746, of which approximately 10% is being raised through taxation. The majority is from loans (45%), reserves (32%), and Provincial and Federal funding (9%). The Nipissing Rd. S. and Ahmic Lake Rd. construction projects alone will cost over $1.6 million. The Municipality also collects and remits numerous levies on behalf of other organizations, for O.P.P. billing, social services, health unit, etc.
Your ideas, suggestions, questions and comments are welcomed.
Sam Dunnett Tim Brunton Jack Crossman
Charlie Gray John Hetherington
