The Township of North Glengarry is updating its Community Improvement Plan (CIP), through which it offers grants and loans to property owners to enhance, restore and rehabilitate the exterior of their buildings, including facades, signage and landscaping.
The updated CIP provides an outline for eligibility for property owners, along with guidelines for any improvement projects. Further, the CIP recognizes that heritage properties can be more costly and challenging to improve. The Township is hoping to increase the amount of funding offered to owners of heritage properties up to $7,000. In addition, the CIP puts forth the incentive for municipal tax credits for heritage properties and brownfield sites, allowing for incremental tax increases for improvements to a property that has increased in value. A grant would be decline over a five-year period with the property assessed by the Municipal, Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC).
Applications for the funding are available through the township website. The Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee (ACHC) reviews each application and makes recommendations to council.
Municipal representative to be part of Glengarry Soccer League
North Glengarry Township council has agreed to appoint a Municipal Recreation Association representative to the board of the Glengarry Soccer League (GSL).
Because there doesn’t seem to be a reliable document, the GSL is updating its constitution and working on a bylaw to meet requirements of Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Act. There appears to be a push from within the league for power to be centralized to an executive and taken away from the groups that form the GSL. Those current members hoping to maintain their voting rights are Alexandria, Char-Lan, Dunvegan, Glen Sandfield, Laggan, Maxville and Vankleek Hill.
The Municipal Recreation Association Committee (MRAC) asked that, to correct this potential imbalance of power, council name a representative of the MRAC or of council, to become a member, with voting rights, of the GSL. This would ensure the necessary checks and balances are in place, protect the township’s investment in the GSL and guarantee all groups under the GSL umbrella have fair representation.
MRAC representative Dean MacGillivray told council there is concern that groups that had experienced low registration numbers, but that are now growing, will not be permitted to join the GSL. This was seen when Greenfield, an original member of the GSL, lost its standing as a voting member and was not allowed back into the league.
North Glengarry council suggests that South Glengarry Township also name a municipal delegate to the GSL.
The GSL, which began in 1924, was recently celebrated at the North Glengarry Business and Community Awards Gala with the Legacy Award. The GSL is one of the longest running leagues in North America. However, it has seen some hard times. North Glengarry came to the organization’s rescue when the GSL was bankrupt ten years ago.
