Trent Lakes mayoral candidates discuss the issues

Trent Lakes mayoral candidates Bev Matthews and Terry Lambshead were asked where they stand on key issues for the township.

Incumbent Mayor Janet Clarkson is not seeking re-election to another term in the Oct. 24 municipal election. Matthews was a longtime representative of Harvey Ward before serving as mayor from 2014 to 2018. Lambshead has been the township’s councillor at large for this past term.

Work-from-home and big city affordability is pushing more people to consider rural living. What is needed in your township to accommodate this?

Matthews I don’t think working from home in our rural areas would be easy due to poor internet in many areas. Also, we often have power outages. Even though real estate has dropped about 20 per cent, property values are still pretty high in Trent Lakes because of proximity to lakes and rivers. We have no form of public transportation and that can present a problem for some.

Lambshead Trent Lakes needs to provide more affordable housing, reliable and affordable broadband internet, and we need to help develop a more streamlined approach to building and planning applications.

Rising costs (inflation/pandemic fallout) brought new pressures to municipalities, but also to taxpayers. How do you see that affecting municipal tax levies in the next few years?

Matthews Well, something has to give, we can’t keep spending on new projects and keep taxes the same. We need to provide the necessary services but cut the frills. I have a feeling that many new builds didn’t get assessed by MPAC over the COVID years and we are losing money there. We need to help with getting building permits out faster. Contractors need to be able to build to give us more assessment.

Lambshead As more residents seek rural living, Trent Lakes is well positioned to keep taxes at a reasonable level now and into the future. Trent Lakes will search for and apply for the many grants that are available and continue to work with all levels of government to help fund our large infrastructure projects. Such as our dedicated mechanics facility, update our fire halls and community centres and our recreational areas and facilities.

What other issue or issues facing your township do you want to address as mayor?

Matthews I would like to hear from staff more on what they think and ideas for improvements. There are too many changes with staff leaving and I want to find out what the issues are with that. Avoid making any new bylaws that you can’t enforce. We need to come up with a solution for the Air B&B problems.

Lambshead If I am fortunate enough to be elected mayor of Trent Lakes, I will try to connect our entire municipality with better communication with all community groups and residents. I also will be a very active member of county council representing Trent Lakes as we contribute a large amount of taxes annually to the county.