Message: This newsletter is the first issue for 2008. Please take a moment to review the contents of the highlights as outlined below. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep our residents apprised of the various Town projects and issues.

Road Rehabilitation Projects for 2008: The following projects will be taking place throughout the 2008 construction season:

Ditching projects will be taking place throughout the municipality. Please refer to the Town’s webpage for further details at www.innisfi.ca.

Residents are reminded that a Road Occupancy Permit is required when anyone is working on a municipal right of way. Anyone operating large trucks or hauling equipment in Innisfil requires an Oversized Load Permit. Both of these permits can be obtained at the Town Hall.

Street sweeping started mid April with the Town’s own street sweeping equipment. In addition, contracted street sweeping will start April 28th and finish May 23rd. Further dust control and catch basin cleaning will commence mid May.

Please remember to check the County of Simcoe’s Waste Management calendar for special collections dates.

Customer Service: The Customer Service centre at the Town Hall is in operation and ready to serve all the needs of the Town of Innisfil residents, the business community and visitors by offering one place to access all services provided by the municipality. At our new location you can obtain: Licensing for lotteries, dogs and business operations; Permit Applications for building, plumbing, entrance ways, and septic systems; Applications for birth, marriage certificates, site plans, rezoning and Committee of Adjustment. Payments are accepted for tax and utility accounts as well as registration fees for Parks and Recreation Programs. Customer Service also receives inquiries regarding zoning and roads as well as the reporting of streetlight outages. To contact Customer Service call 705-436-3710 or from the Lefroy area call 436-3353. Our hours of operation are Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Building & Inspection Services: As of the end of March, 154 permits were issued with 84 of these being for new houses. This was substantially higher than the same period in 2007 when only 69 permits were issued with 14 of these being for new houses. Building Services staff’s timely review of applications has greatly improved the turn-around times for permit issuance. Building Services continues to use the Registered Code Agency to assist with Plans review activities which has allowed staff to devote more of their time and energy on inspections. Recruitment for additional inspection staff to assist with the increased workload will take place in the near future. It is anticipated that we will be at our full staff compliment by the end of May.

Parks & Recreation - Program Department: If you have not received your 2008 SPRING/SUMMER Community Recreation Program Guide in your mailbox, you may pick-up your copy at any Town Facility (arenas, libraries, administrative buildings). Get involved early as programs do fill up quickly. Our Summer Program line-up includes Adventure Camp, Sports Camp, Discovery Camp, and we are offering a full array of Red Cross Swim lessons to be held at Innisfil Beach Park - North Beach. Register earlier for camp and swim programs and take advantage of discounted fees prior to May 31st. We would like to encourage all residents to use our on-line registration inn-touch.innisfil.ca. All you need is a Family Pin number, Client Barcode and Visa or Master Card. If you wish to register online and require these codes please call 436-3710 Mon. – Fri. 8:30 am - 4:30 pm and we would be more than happy to assign one to you.

Parks & Recreation - Facility Bookings: View ice time, banquet halls and pavilion availability online. Log on to inntouch. innisfil.ca click on the facility tab and check if your date and time are available. For more information call 436-3710.

NEW Innisfil Recreational Complex: Come and enjoy the areas newest state of the art twin pad facility, the Innisfil Recreation Complex, 2 full NHL size rinks with modern dressing rooms, great parking, and a convenient location: Yonge Street just south of Innisfil Beach Road. Ice time available at very competitive prices! Bring your league or activity to Innisfil! For more information call the Parks & Recreation office at 436-3710 Ext 4306.

Emergency Preparedness: Visit our display at the Town Hall during Emergency Preparedness Week May 4 to 11. For more information, please contact the Emergency Management Coordinator at: 705-436-2763. Remember PREPARE TODAY FOR A SAFER TOMORROW

Town Municipal Wastewater System: Sewer Line Maintenance Flushing Notification: The 2008 sanitary sewer line maintenance flushing program to remove settled and accumulating material from the sewers will start in April 2008 and run until early fall. Notifications will be delivered to the appropriate residents within 3 days of a flushing event. Please be advised that during this process a contractor will be setting up their apparatus at each manhole in the roadway and releasing pressurized water through the main pipe to remove any buildup of materials. A bubbling and/or vacuum effect may be noticed in your drains and toilets due to the low grade and shallow depth of our system. It is recommended to keep all toilet seats closed and run water into all drains (including floor drains) after the work is complete. Internal plumbing consists of "P" Traps which hold a volume of water to prevent sewer gasses from migrating into a home. During the flushing process, this water could be drawn out of the traps by negative pressure created in the sewer main. For that reason it is important to re-fill all plumbing traps by running the water in your sinks and floor drains after the work is complete. Please be patient during this preventative maintenance process and understand that it is necessary to eliminate to potential for sewer main surcharging resulting in damage to residential housing. Any questions or concerns can be directed to Waste Water Services by the methods provided below.

2008 Final Property Tax Bills: The 2008 Final Property Tax Bills will be mailed out in early June. The final bill will be due in two approximately equal installments. The installment due dates will be June 27th, 2008 and September 30th, 2008 for the Residential, Farm, Managed Forest and Pipeline property classes. The final commercial, industrial, and multi-residential installment due dates will be August 29th, 2008 and October 31st, 2008. If you are planning to make any payments electronically through your financial institution, please do so 2-3 business days prior to the due dates to ensure your payment reaches the Town in time. When using the Cookstown Drop-box to make payments please remit 4-5 business days prior to the due date. Postdated cheques for all due dates can be sent to the New Town Hall at any time to be processed on the date you have selected. All payments received subsequent to the due dates are liable for late payment penalty at the rate of 1.25% of the amount due and 1.25% interest on the first day of each month thereafter. In order to sign up for a pre-authorized payment plan to have the funds automatically deducted from a designated bank account either monthly, or upon the installment dates in the future, please contact Financial Services to complete an application, or apply online at www.innisfil.ca. The Municipal Act requires that address changes must be submitted to the Town in writing. For your convenience, a change of address form, complete with instructions is available on the Town’s website at www.innisfil.ca. Please note that failure to receive a Property Tax Bill does not relieve the owner of responsibility for payments due nor liability for penalty and interest charged.

Innisfil Hydro: Delivers electricity to your home or business in Innisfil. We do not have representatives going door to door selling retail electricity contracts. Beware of people who come to your door selling electricity and claiming to be with Innisfil Hydro – they are not! If you have any concerns about the conduct of an energy retailer or you would like information about energy options, please contact the Ontario Energy Board at: www.oeb.gov.on.ca or toll free by calling 1-877-632-2727

Remember, if someone shows up at your door selling electricity here’s what to do:

• Ask for and inspect their official identification and their name;
• Ask for their company name & phone number;
• Ask them to leave literature with you;
• Don’t offer any information or show them any of your hydro bills unless you are absolutely sure of whom you are dealing with; the regulated price plan from November 1, 2007 to April 30, 2008 is 5.0 cents/kWh for the first 1000 kWh/month, (residential); first 750 kWh (commercial) 5.9 cents/kWh for the rest, and finally;
• If you do sign a retail energy contract, there is 10 day ‘cooling off’ period available to cancel the contract.

Animal Control: The phone number for animal control is (705) 431-2882. Please note that there are fines for dogs caught running at large and animal owners who choose not to clean up after their pet. See By-law 068-06 for details.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Painswick Horticultural Society: Annual plant and bake sale at Foodland Plaza, Saturday May 24th, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Become a new member that day and you will get 10% off your plant purchases. For more information, call John at 705-436-5292.

Paint the Town Yellow - Alcona: May 31st, 2008. For more information contact Rick Winson at 704-431-7077.

National Access Awareness Week: June 1st to 8th, 2008

Innisfil Events Corporation: Innisfil Summerfest June 13th, 14th & 15th, 2008 Innisfil Beach Park. Proceeds will go towards the new multi-purpose recreation facility.

Town Hall Official Grand Opening Scheduled for June 26th. Please monitor the Town’s webpage for further details at www.innisfi.ca.

Feedback: This newsletter is a means whereby the Mayor, Council and Administration are able to communicate with the taxpayers of our Town. Please contact the Town should you have any questions concerning the information that is published. Feedback is important to ensure that this newsletter is effective.